Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of children excluded from school; and if he will make a statement.

The Department supports head teachers in using exclusion where this is warranted. There has been a increase in exclusions recently, though there are still fewer exclusions than a decade ago.

In March, the Government launched an externally-led review of exclusions practice, led by Edward Timpson CBE. The review is exploring how head teachers use exclusion, and why pupils with particular characteristics are more likely to be excluded from school. It is also considering the differences in exclusion rates across primary and secondary schools in England.

The review will report at the beginning of next 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.