Students who are suspended from school are, on average, a year behind their peers by the time they take GCSEs, findings reveal.
Today’s report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) examines the relationship between the number of suspensions and outcomes for secondary students in England.
Students who are suspended at least once are, on average, not receiving a standard pass in GCSE English and maths, the report says.
Researchers say this is not simply because of the demographics of students who are suspended, or the kinds of schools that suspend more students.
And, according to the report, students suspended 10 times were 15 times as likely to be permanently excluded as students suspended once, meaning they were more likely to sit their GCSEs in alternative provision.
The authors say the link between multiple suspensions and attainment remained “significant and stark” after accounting for factors such as socioeconomic disadvantage, prior attainment, school characteristics and demographics.
However, the EPI authors add that they cannot be sure whether suspension itself causes the difference in GCSE grades.
Whitney Crenna-Jennings, EPI’s associate director for mental health and wellbeing, said the findings showed it was ”vital that schools work proactively to reduce the number of suspensions and are given the resources that they need to identify pupils with mental health and additional needs, to make early intervention possible”.
More research is also needed to understand the causes of the recent rise in suspension rates, to inform more effective responses, she said.
EPI also calls on the Department for Education to work with Ofsted to ensure that those who are suspended have access to a high-quality education.
Suspension rates reached their highest point in over a decade in 2022 - a trend that seems to have continued into this academic year.
Suspensions linked to SEND
EPI’s report also reveals that the proportion of students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) increased in line with the number of suspensions. Students suspended 10 times were almost three times as likely to be identified with SEND as students who were suspended once.
Social, emotional or mental health needs were the most common SEND types among suspended students, though many were only identified as such after their first suspension.
But DfE behaviour adviser Tom Bennett said most suspensions last for one or two days, and argued that their impact on students’ mental health and wellbeing is “overstated and under-evidenced”.
Mr Bennett added it was “unsurprising” that students displaying behaviours leading to suspension, such as disruption and violence, had poorer GCSE outcomes and said such behaviour also leads to “damaged outcomes for the victims”.
He said the report was “written by people who will never have to face a challenging class” and that “nobody could be expected to endure these kinds of behaviours in the workplace”, including teachers and students.
SEND system ‘in a state of crisis’
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said suspension rates were driven by a range of complex causes.
He said that suspensions and exclusions are a “last resort to ensure the safety of pupils and staff”, and urged the government to increase funding for support services that would help students “before problems become entrenched and harder to solve”.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said suspensions and poor outcomes “are a reflection of underlying problems” and that early intervention and training are needed.
Mr Barton added that the SEND system is “in a state of crisis”, citing delayed assessments, disputes between parents and local authorities and deficits in high-needs budgets.
He said the government’s plans to improve the system lack sufficient funding and that the situation is “lamentable” for young people.
EPI’s report studied a cohort of 585,827 students who were in Year 7 at a state school in 2014 and followed them until they sat their GCSEs in 2019.
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