Ofsted has told the head of a major academy chain that exclusions should only be used as a last resort, the inspectorate has revealed.
The education watchdog has also told Tes that it had discussed the issue of off-rolling with Outwood Grange Academies Trust’s chief executive Martyn Oliver.
However, Outwood Grange has disputed this and said no discussions about off-rolling had taken place.
Ofsted said its inspectors were examining exclusions in the North East and Yorkshire and Humber schools and had raised the issue in a briefing with the trust.
Earlier this year, Outwood Grange was blamed by some headteachers for the high level of secondary school exclusions in the North East of England.
An Ofsted spokeswoman said: “Cathryn Kirby, Ofsted Director for the North East, Yorkshire and Humber, is regularly in touch with the region’s larger multi-academy trusts chief executive officers about a wide range of matters.
“In this instance, she briefed the Outwood Grange Academies Trust chief executive officer about Ofsted’s position on secondary school exclusions: that schools should only ever use such sanctions as a last resort. Our inspectors have been taking a careful look at exclusions in the region as a whole.”
The inspectorate also said: “Our regional director has discussed off-rolling with a number of key stakeholders in the region including the chief executive officer of the Outwood Grange Academies Trust.”
An Outwood Grange spokeswoman said: “The CEO of Outwood and regional Ofsted director have not met for some months but do meet regularly, as they have for a number of years, and discuss a wide variety of items that are topical in the educational landscape. There have been no specific discussions on ‘off-rolling’.
“Our track record on Ofsted inspections speaks for itself, with every school inspected in the last two years being judged as either ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ - most of which were in special measures prior to Outwood’s sponsorship.”
In March this year, Outwood Grange Academies Trust was accused of contributing to a “meteoric rise” in exclusions in some of the areas where it operates.
Mike Parker, the director of Schools NorthEast, said at the time that concerns had been raised by heads in Redcar and Cleveland about a rise in exclusion rates after Outwood Grange had taken on schools in these areas.
In February, Ms Kirby wrote to secondary school heads in Yorkshire and the North East, to express concerns about the high rates of fixed-period exclusions.
She highlighted the fact that exclusion rates were among the highest in the country in eight of the local authorities covered by the region.
Ms Kirby said she was also calling on her inspectors to pay particular attention to schools’ use of exclusions when making judgements about leadership, management and pupil behaviour.
There have been increasing concerns nationally about pupils being permanently excluded or informally encouraged to leave school rolls to boost league table results, known as “off-rolling”.
Education secretary Damian Hinds has vowed to take action on exclusions and pledged to improve standards in alternative-provision settings.
Former children’s minister Edward Timpson is due to publish the findings of an inquiry into school exclusions at the beginning of next year, and Mr Hinds said the government would respond to its conclusions.
