Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice they give to state-funded schools about excluding pupils for reasons other than those connected to behaviour.

Exclusion on any grounds other than discipline is unlawful. The Government supports head teachers in using exclusion as a sanction where it is warranted. However, 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.

The department publishes statutory guidance, attached, for head teachers and governors on exclusion: ‘Exclusion from maintained schools, Academies and pupil referral units in England’. The guidance covers the process from start to finish, and makes clear the factors that a head teacher should take into account before taking a decision to exclude.