Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the level of school exclusions; and if he will make a statement.

The Government has launched an externally led review of exclusions practice, led by Edward Timpson CBE. The review will consider how schools use exclusion overall and how this impacts their pupils, and in particular, why some groups of pupils are more likely to be excluded from school. It will also consider practice in relation to behaviour management and alternative interventions schools take in place of exclusion.

Good progress has been made gathering evidence, including through a call for evidence which received a significant response from parents. The review will aim to report by the end of the year. The full terms of reference for the review can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusions-review-terms-of-reference.