Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children under the age of 16 have been excluded from school as a result of possession of illegal substances in the latest period for which figures are available.

In the 2011/12 academic year, there were 330 permanent and 7,740 fixed period exclusions due to drug or alcohol consumption. This is equivalent to 6.4% of all permanent exclusions and 2.5% of all fixed period exclusions respectively.

These statistics are published in the exclusions “Permanent and fixed period exclusions from schools in England: 2011 to 2012 academic year”[1] Statistical First Release and include pupils of all ages.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-from-schools-in-england-2011-to-2012-academic-year (Tables 11 and 12)