Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the number of children excluded from school; and what steps she is taking to address the root causes of children's negative behaviours.

The Department supports headteachers in using suspension and permanent exclusion as a sanction where warranted as part of creating calm, safe, and supportive environments where pupils and staff can work in safety and are respected.

The Department is providing £10 million for behaviour hubs to enable schools and multi-academy trusts (MATs) with exemplary behaviour practices to work in partnership with those that want to see behavioural improvement.

To support staff, the Early Career Framework reforms entitle all early career teachers to two years of professional development in five core areas, including behaviour management.

In July 2022, the Department published updated guidance on behaviour in schools and suspension and permanent exclusion statutory guidance. These documents provide further clarity and support to schools on how to manage behaviour well for all pupils in the school community. This can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1101498/Suspension_and_Permanent_Exclusion_from_maintained_schools__academies_and_pupil_referral_units_in_England__including_pupil_movement.pdf.

The Department’s guidance, 'Understanding your data: a guide for school governors and academy trustees’ makes clear governing boards should carefully consider the level and characteristics of pupils who are leaving the school and deploy maximum challenge to the school on any permanent exclusions to ensure it is only used as a last resort.

The Department does not hold the data on what proportion of children being excluded have a mental health challenge or a neurodiversity diagnosis. The Department publishes figures on the proportion and characteristics of pupils excluded from schools in England. To fulfil the commitment to publish exclusion data in a timely manner, in November 2022 the Department published the Autumn term of 2021/22 data. The most recent full academic year, 2020/21, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england/2020-21.