Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to prevent selective schools and sixth form colleges (a) suspending pupils and (b) encouraging pupils to leave due to poor grades.

State-funded schools can only exclude a pupil, either permanently or for a fixed period, for disciplinary reasons. All decisions to exclude should be lawful, reasonable and fair and follow the statutory guidance issued by the Department. Exclusion on any grounds other than discipline, such as based on academic attainment or ability, is unlawful.

Permanent exclusion should only be used as a last resort, in response to a serious breach or persistent breaches of the school's behaviour policy and where allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil or others in the school. Where a pupil is asked to leave a school, the school must follow the formal exclusions process as set out in the statutory school exclusion guidance. In September 2017, the Department wrote to all schools reminding them of the rules on exclusion.

Schools can set admissions requirements for pupils moving into their sixth form because it is a transition stage. For example, entry requirements may be set on the basis of the grades the pupil achieved at Key Stage 4, and schools are permitted to remove pupils from their registers at this stage under the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended, if the pupil has failed to meet these standards. However, once the pupil has been admitted to the school sixth form, it is unlawful to exclude them for any reason other than discipline. Moving from Year 12 to Year 13 is not a transition stage and therefore an academic requirement cannot be used to remove pupils and the formal exclusions process must be followed.

These regulations do not apply to sixth form colleges as they are not schools. However once a student is enrolled, the institution is expected to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the student can complete their programme.