Fixed period exclusions increase in England

Government figures show the number of fixed-period exclusions has risen seven per cent - from 410,800 in 2017-18 up to 438,300 last year.

The fixed-period exclusions are mainly in secondary schools – where the rate of suspensions rose from 1,013 pupils per every 10,000 in 2017-18 up to 1,075 last year.

Persistent disruptive behaviour was the most common reason for fixed period exclusions.

There were 137,900 fixed period exclusions for this reason in 2018/19, representing 31% of all fixed period exclusions. This is an increase from 123,100 (30%) in 2017/18. Increases were seen across most reasons, with the exception of bullying, sexual misconduct and theft.

Physical assault against a pupil (16%) and verbal abuse or threatening behaviour against an adult (15%) were the next most prominent reasons for fixed period exclusions.

The rate of permanent exclusions has, however, remained stable. For a second successive year, at 0.10, and the number of permanent exclusions has reduced slightly, to 7,894 in 2018/19. This is equivalent to 10 pupils per 10,000.

This rate has also remained fairly stable across all school types.