Number of pupils excluded from Bedford schools has fallen

The number of pupils permanently excluded from Bedford borough schools fell last year.

The latest government figures show that 33 pupils were permanently excluded from the borough’s state-funded primary, secondary and special schools during 2020/21.

This is 11 fewer than the previous year, and 24 fewer than in 2016/17.

The most common reasons given for a permanent exclusion were physical assault against a pupil (38.8 per cent) and persistent disruptive behaviour (23.1 per cent).

Bedford Borough Council isn’t involved in permanent exclusions, as only the school/headteacher can make the decision to exclude a pupil.

However, schools are encouraged to work with the council to consider alternatives to permanent exclusion.

A council spokesperson said: “Schools have been encouraged to work with the Local Authority (LA) and other agencies to identify support for children at risk of exclusion from an early stage.

“The main route for this is via the completion of an Early Help Assessment. Support offered by the LA to reduce exclusions includes (but isn’t limited to) 1-1 work with young people, support for parenting, outreach work into our schools from the Pupil Referral Unit (PRU), short-term placements at the PRU, and the support of managed moves to give young people a chance of a fresh start in a new school.

“Council officers have also provided significant training to schools to support them with working with their pupils.”

The permanent exclusion rate for 2020/21 is 0.11 per cent. This is 0.4 percentage points lower than the previous year and 0.9 percentage points lower than 2016/17.

When asked what the ideal achievable rate would be, the council spokesperson said: “The council would want to reduce the rate further, in partnership with our school colleagues.”

A permanent exclusion involves the child being removed from the school roll. But the pupil’s name cannot be removed from the school admissions register until the outcome of the Independent Review Panel is know.

This route is not always requested by parents, and only three independent exclusion reviews were requested during 2020/21.

They all upheld the decision to permanently exclude the pupil.

While permanent exclusions fell, the number of temporary suspensions increased last year.

In 2020/21, there were 549 pupil enrolments with one or more suspensions, up from 458 the previous year.

The top three reasons given for a suspension were; persistent disruptive behaviour (27.4 per cent), physical assault against a pupil (23.4 per cent) and verbal abuse or threatening behaviour against an adult (15.1 per cent).

The figures also showed that 32 (3.2 per cent) suspensions were for the ‘wilful and repeated transgression of protective measures in place to protect public health’ (national Covid measures).

While suspensions and permanent exclusions were possible throughout 2019/20 and 2020/21, the Department for Education said the pandemic restrictions will have had an impact on the data, therefore caution should be taken when comparing across years.