Call to cut pupil exclusions

EDUCATION Secretary Damian Hinds is calling on schools to cut the number of pupils they exclude unnecessarily.

A review out today found some schools are getting a disproportionately high number off their rolls, possibly to shore up their league table position.

The review, by former minister Edward Timpson, found 85 per cent of mainstream schools had no expulsions in 2016/17 but 0.2 per cent expelled more than ten pupils. Mr Hinds wants the GCSE results of expelled pupils to count even after they have left and for schools to do more to support difficult pupils.

Critics claim some schools ‘ off- roll’ low achievers by persuading parents to homeschool them. Mr Hinds stressed that head teachers must retain the right to exclude violent or disruptive children.