School suspensions rise sharply among disadvantaged children in England

Increasing numbers of children from poor backgrounds are being suspended from schools in England since the pandemic, according to analysis that estimates more than 3,000 pupils were sent home every day.

The analysis was published as teachers, who took part in a separate survey, said verbal and physical abuse from pupils has “increased significantly” post-pandemic, with some having furniture thrown at them, being bitten, spat at, head-butted, punched and kicked.

Meanwhile, the latest details from last year’s Sats tests published by the Department for Education (DfE) showed the “disadvantage gap” in results is still significantly higher than pre-pandemic, with too many children from poor backgrounds failing to meet expected standards in primary schools.

School suspensions, where a child is removed temporarily because of misbehaviour, have risen overall since Covid – up 30% in 2021-22 compared with 2018-19 – but they have gone up more sharply among disadvantaged children (up 75% v 4% for those not in poverty).

According to analysis by a new coalition called Who’s Losing Learning?, for the first time more than half of all suspensions in 2021-22 – the latest available figures from the DfE – involved children from poor backgrounds, who were 3.7 times more likely to be sent home than other children.

Both children with social workers and children with special needs were four times more likely to lose learning through being suspended, the coalition said. Repeat suspensions can be a warning sign of future permanent exclusion, when children are told to leave their school forever.

The new analysis found the increase in suspensions was highest in the East Midlands (up 57%), followed by the north-west and north-east (both 34%), while inner London saw a 7% increase.

Black Caribbean children were 1.5 times more likely to be suspended than their white British peers. Dual-heritage white and black Caribbean children were 1.7 times more likely, and Irish traveller and Roma, Gypsy and Traveller populations were 2.4 times and 3.2 times more likely than white British children respectively.

Kiran Gill, the chief executive of The Difference educational charity – one of the coalition members – said: “The Covid-19 pandemic may be over but the pandemic of lost learning in England is growing.

“We should all be worried about the social injustice that the most marginalised children – who already have the biggest barriers to opportunity outside of school – are those most likely to be losing learning through absence, suspension and exclusion.”

A survey of 6,500 members of the NASUWT teachers’ union found almost nine out of 10 said the number of pupils exhibiting physically violent and abusive behaviours has increased in the last year.

Almost three-quarters of those surveyed cited poor socialisation skills following Covid restrictions as key driving factor behind the rise in poor pupil behaviour.

More than a third (37%) reported experiencing violence or physical abuse from pupils in the previous 12 months, while 90% reported receiving verbal abuse, including being sworn at, threatened and targeted with racial or sexual insults.

Patrick Roach, the general secretary of NASUWT, said: “While concerns about pupil behaviour are not new, our research indicates an alarming increase in violent and defiant behaviour by some pupils.”

Another study by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), published on Wednesday, revealed the financial pressures on schools in England. It found the majority of primary schools are asking for more contributions from parents due to rising financial pressures.

Almost half of primaries and special schools, and two-fifths of secondary schools, had or were expecting an in-year deficit in 2022/23, while just under half of mainstream schools expected an in-year deficit resulting in cuts to provision in 2023/24.

The DfE said it supports headteachers to take the action necessary to promote good behaviour.

“To support schools to do this, we have issued updated guidance on suspensions and permanent exclusions and are clear that extra support should be put in place where children are at risk of being permanently excluded and entering alternative provision.”