School suspensions at record-breaking levels, with 4,100 children sent home every day

New Department for Education data shows school exclusions rising above pre-pandemic levels and suspensions skyrocketing.

As the school year ends, and a new government sets priorities, a clearer picture emerges of a ballooning problem in England’s schools with the most vulnerable children most at risk of falling out of school.

The Who’s Losing Learning Coalition – an alliance of IPPR, the Difference, Impetus and Mission 44 – has come together to analyse the scale and impact of lost learning.

The Coalition’s analysis of new Department for Education data reveals that exclusions (including temporary suspensions and permanent expulsions) have soared to record levels in 2022/23 (latest available figures). The data finds:

• The equivalent of 4,100+ children each day have been losing learning due to suspension from school
• Permanent exclusions have also risen above pre-pandemic levels - 9,376 children were permanently excluded from schools across England in 2022/23
• There has been an 80 per cent rise in suspensions from pre-pandemic levels, (up from 2300 in 2018/19) and a 36 per cent year-on-year rise between 2021/22 and 2022/23
• More than a half (55 per cent) of all suspensions were among children growing up in poverty (measured by free school meal eligibility)
• Children from Gypsy Roma and Traveller backgrounds were more than twice as likely to lose learning through suspension than their peers
• Children from mixed white and Black Carribean backgrounds were 85 per cent more likely than average to be suspended from school

There is also concerning regional variation in rates of exclusion and suspension:

• The rate of permanent exclusion in the North East was nearly double that of England as a whole. Suspension rates were also higher in the North East than in any other region.
• In the East Midlands, suspension rates have more than doubled since before the pandemic

A new report to be published by IPPR on 5th September will outline the true scale of children losing learning in England. This will include new data on suspensions and exclusions, alongside statistics on types of exclusion not routinely tracked by the government such as off-rolling and internal truancy. The upcoming report will also reveal that children with the worst mental health issues are 17 times more likely to be in Alternative Provision schools serving excluded pupils than their mentally healthier peers.  

A new Who’s Losing Learning Solutions Council will set out how the education sector should respond to this challenge. Between September 2024 and March 2025 the council will hear evidence from school leaders, parents and organisations working with children losing learning. The Council will identify promising work currently happening in pockets across the country and advise on how these ought to be translated into national policy solutions.