Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to prevent academies from using selective processes to exclude certain pupils, such as paying comprehensive schools to take troublesome pupils or schools closing and re-opening with smaller intakes to achieve the exclusion of certain pupils.

The Government supports head teachers in using exclusion as a sanction where it is warranted. It is, however, appropriate for schools to consider other measures to improve a pupil’s behaviour before taking a decision to exclude. This can include directing a pupil off-site to be educated in specialist alternative provision in order to help improve their behaviour.

The Department has no evidence of schools closing in order to re-open with the goal of establishing a lower published admissions number (PAN) or achieving the exclusion of troublesome pupils. A reduction in PAN can only take place after the admission authority for a school has undertaken a full consultation in accordance with the School Admissions Code. Anyone can object to the Schools Adjudicator and the adjudicator can prevent the PAN from being reduced if the reduction is unfair or otherwise breaches the Code.