Analysis from FFT Education Datalab, published by charity Chance UK (Benyon, 2024), shows correlation between exclusion or suspension at primary school and attendance and academic outcomes in secondary school.
It finds that by year 10, of those students who had been excluded at primary schools 64% were persistently absent (missing 10% of their school sessions).
Furthermore, the study reveals that a staggering 97% of pupils excluded during their primary education had SEND. Most of those excluded children had social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH) as well.
The study tracked five year groups from reception class to GCSE exams (around 3.2 million students) and finds that as well as SEND, exclusion and suspension also disproportionately affected children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with English as an additional language.
Six in 10 of those children excluded and suspended had also been identified as a “Child in Need” by social services at some point during their school lives.
Chance UK points out that suspension rates for primary children are now at the highest level since 2006. It highlights that more than 22,000 children aged 6 and under were excluded/suspended in primary schools in England in 2022.
Suspensions and exclusions remain rarer at primary school. Data from 2021/22 (latest available) shows secondary suspensions running at 13.96/100 students and exclusions at 0.16/100. This compares to rates for primary pupils of 1.42/100 and 0.016/100.
Of the five cohorts involved in the study, the data shows that 2.3% were suspended and 0.14% excluded while a primary school. Of these students, the study finds:
- Only 26.4% (of those who were excluded) and 59.2% (of those who were suspended) completed key stage 4 in a mainstream school.
- Only 9% (excluded) and 22.7% (suspended) attained grade 4s or above in English and maths.
- Problems with attendance, with 88.1% (excluded) and 74.5% (suspended) being persistently absent during secondary school.
- High rates of suspension at secondary school (64% and 62.6%).
- Above average levels of exclusion at secondary school (7.3% and 6.6%).
The study acknowledges that pupils who were suspended/excluded at primary school are more likely to have other characteristics associated with lower outcomes.
It addresses this by using a statistical technique to “match” each suspended/excluded pupil to a statistically similar pupil, but even when this is taken into account the difference between suspended/excluded and other pupils shrinks but does not disappear (see figure 1).
The author also acknowledges that the presence of potentially “unobservable characteristics”, such as levels of parental support, means that “we can’t interpret any observed differences in outcomes as causal”.
Figure 1: The diagram shows the outcomes of pupils excluded or suspended at primary school compared to their peers on the left. When other pupil characteristics are taken into account via the matching process, the differences shrink but they do not disappear (source: Benyon, 2024)
The analysis states: “Overall, and not surprisingly, pupils who were suspended or permanently excluded during primary school had worse outcomes at the end of secondary school than other pupils. Some of this difference is related to differences in pupils’ characteristics, for example, suspended/excluded pupils being more likely than others to have spent time eligible for FSM.
“However, we’ve shown that even after accounting for pupil characteristics, substantial differences in outcomes remain. We can’t claim that being suspended or excluded in primary school definitely caused poorer outcomes, but the magnitude of some of the differences even after adjusting for such a wide range of characteristics provides food for thought.”
Chance UK works with children aged 5 to 13 using youth workers as mentors who work with the child and family for about nine months in a bid to improve their school attendance and behaviour.
Off the back of the report, the charity is calling for ring-fenced funding for specialist support in primary schools, alongside regular statutory training for all school staff and trainee teachers.
Vanessa Longley, Chance UK CEO, said: “When we have children as young as 5 being excluded from primary school then clearly something isn’t working. For the first time we can see the incredibly devastating impact that a primary school exclusion or suspension has on a child’s life and their school careers. We can’t wait until they reach secondary school to tackle this problem, we must get in early to support children who are struggling and who often have unmet social, emotional and mental health needs.”
Sarah’s son, Daniel (not his real name), was first excluded when he was in reception. She explained: “By the time we eventually got an autism diagnosis, Daniel had been excluded more than 20 times. It just went on and on. He wouldn’t sit still and listen, so he’d be removed from the class and would have to sit on his own in the school office.
“It got to the point that he just didn’t want to go to school, and he would beg me not to take him. When a six-year-old says to you, “Mum, do you think I’m a bad person?”, it breaks your heart.”
Commenting on the analysis, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “Suspensions and exclusions are used only as a last resort in order ensure the safety of all pupils and staff, and exam grades can obviously be influenced by a range of complex issues and are rarely a result one factor alone.
“The most significant issue schools face is that government underfunding of vital services like social care, children’s mental health and support for children with SEND mean that when they seek help for children and families it is now incredibly difficult to access or, in many cases, simply unavailable.”
- Beynon: The secondary school outcomes of pupils excluded (or suspended) in primary school, FFT Education Data lab & Chance UK, 2024: https://ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2024/04/the-consequences-of-primary-school-exclusions
- Chance UK: www.chanceuk.com