Why school exclusions are at record levels

Sabrina Simpson, a lawyer who works with families appealing against school exclusions, says children are too often viewed through a “behaviour lens”.

“I remember one child said to me, ‘I thought I was just bad.’ And then he found out he had ADHD,” she said.

“That was really sad to hear him say he thought he was ‘just naughty’, because that’s how everyone had made him feel.”

Beth Prescott, education lead at the Centre for Social Justice, says pupils are being affected by issues from “beyond the school gates”.

Exclusions “have a place” in the school system, she says, but in some cases they are “masking an underlying unmet need”.

She says rising numbers of children with Send was among the “barrage of obstacles” for children to engage with their schooling – also including worsening mental health, long NHS waiting lists and the cost-of-living crisis.

Mental health problems and cost-of-living pressures on families are among the complex reasons cited for more children being persistently absent – defined as those missing at least 10% of school – than ever before.

Persistent absence rose after the pandemic, with one in five children now recorded as being absent for roughly one or more days every fortnight.

And in turn, Mr Kidwell says the high rates of persistent absence are linked to rising exclusions.