What is actually happening on School Exclusions?
Who Gets Excluded from School — and Why?
Over 9,000 children were permanently excluded in 2022/23 — Black Caribbean pupils are 3× more likely to be excluded — and exclusions correlate strongly with later criminal justice contact.
England recorded 9,160 permanent exclusions in 2022/23, up 77% from 5,170 in 2014/15 and the highest figure since comparable records began.[1] A further 787,000 fixed-period suspensions were issued — also a record — equivalent to more than five million school days lost. Boys account for 75% of permanent exclusions, and pupils with special educational needs and disabilities make up 40% despite representing just 17% of the school population.
The ethnic disparity is stark and persistent. Black Caribbean pupils face exclusion at three times the rate of white British pupils. Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller children have the highest exclusion rate of any ethnic group. This gap has not meaningfully narrowed since 2010. Research by the Education Policy Institute suggests between 40,000 and 49,000 additional pupils per year leave school rolls through informal off-rolling — meaning official figures understate the true scale.[2]
The Ministry of Justice's 2022 data linkage study found that 63% of young people in custody had been permanently excluded from school, and 89% had been suspended at least once.[3] Each permanent exclusion is estimated to cost the state £300,000 over a lifetime. Labour's 2024 manifesto committed to reducing exclusions through mandatory inclusion plans and strengthened local authority oversight.
Sources & Methodology
DfE — Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England — primary exclusions data. Updated annually.
Ethnicity breakdown data from the same DfE statistical release. Rates expressed per 10,000 pupils of each ethnic group.
All figures are for England state-funded schools. Financial year data mapped to start year for charting.