Children in poverty most likely to be excluded from school, study finds: 'A crisis of lost learning'

School exclusions and suspensions surged in the last year, a new report has found, with children from low-income backgrounds hit the hardest. 

According to a report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and education organisation The Difference, suspensions and exclusions across all schools and all year groups in England have risen by more than 20% last year compared to the previous year. 

The study also found that the suspension and exclusion rate for secondary school children increased from 14.3% to 17%, a rise of one fifth. 

It found that 32 million days of learning were lost by pupils of all ages due to unauthorised absence and exclusions, 72% higher than in 2018/19, the last full school year before the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The research found that suspensions and exclusions are most likely to impact children from low-income backgrounds, students from minority ethnic backgrounds, children known to social services, pupils with special educational needs (SEN), and students with mental health issues.

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Students from low-income families – in this case, those who get free school meals – were found to be nearly five times more likely to be permanently excluded and four times more likely to be suspended than their peers. The poorest areas of England were also found to have the highest rates of lost learning, with Middlesbrough having a suspension rate of three times the national average. 

Dr Helen Rafferty, senior programme manager at children’s charity Shine, told the Big Issue that there is “not a single answer” as to why exclusions and suspensions are rising in schools, but that resources are needed for schools to be able to support children at risk of missing school. 

“It’s certainly the case that children from low-income backgrounds… quite often have more varied and more unmet, complex needs than other children on average,” she explained, adding that many of the children Shine works with are facing “a whole host of other challenges or barriers in their lives”, including being more likely to be in food poverty, more likely to be a carer or have caring responsibilities, or have mental health issues. 

“Making sure that children have the foundations they need – literacy, vocabulary, communication, regulation, self-expression – from quite a young age and throughout their childhood, is really critical in making sure they’re equipped to get the most out of school and avoid exclusion,” she added. “Sadly, that’s much less likely to happen for children from low-income homes compared to students and children as a whole.”

Dr Rafferty explained that more resources, and more of a “social safety net” for low-income households, are needed in order to lower the rate of exclusion and suspension in schools. 

“At the moment, schools are quite incentivised to not exclude, but maybe aren’t given the support they need to keep children in the education system, whether that be really good access to SEN diagnosis and really good provision for children who have additional or more complicated needs… for governments to give schools the resources they need to provide inclusive environments and meet the needs of children across the board would be really valuable.”

These exclusions and suspensions are found to have a long-term impact on children, with 90% of excluded pupils not achieving a pass in GCSE maths or English. Research also found that half of young people serving custodial sentences are persistently absent from school and three-quarters have been suspended at least once.

“The thing that is a marker of success for children is if they are able to have a consistent and stable pathway through school… and children who are repeatedly suspended or excluded just don’t get that experience, and it has a really long-term impact throughout their lives,” Dr Rafferty explained. 

Efua Poku-Amanfo, IPPR research fellow, added: “Thousands of children across the country are losing out on learning – and it’s rising. The most vulnerable children are being let down and we’re concerned this will become an endemic problem for society as well as the potential damage it could do to the prospects for young people.  

“Students from lower income backgrounds, with special educational needs and those with mental health issues are among the most likely to lose out on learning. Change is long overdue and it’s time to look towards building more effective policy solutions to fix this crisis of lost learning.”  

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