More than a million days of learning lost after record numbers of children are suspended from school
More than a million days of learning were lost last year after record numbers of children were suspended from school.
School suspensions have risen by a third compared to pre-pandemic levels, leading to fears of a deepening crisis in our schools post-pandemic.
And for the first time, Sky News can reveal that the number of suspensions involving girls has increased by 59% since before the pandemic.
But teaching leaders say there is a national shortage of alternative forms of education for excluded pupils as the rise in suspensions puts unprecedented demand on the system.
Schools like the Marvell College in Hull say they have taken steps to reduce suspensions by creating their own alternative provision within the school for children whose behaviour means they are at risk of being suspended.
Here special classes are set up to give some pupils a chance to re-engage with school.
Postcodes ‘shouldn’t dictate potential outcomes’
Headteacher Jake Capper said it is working.
“We’re not putting the responsibility onto anyone else. These are our children. This is our community. And we’re proud of our children and our community. What we do here allows some of our pupils to decompress and to understand what’s expected of them.
“As they get a little bit older and become a little bit more mature, we can work with them in their families to decide about what’s best for them in the longer term.
“I think that the postcode you live in shouldn’t dictate your potential outcomes. If some children find that school is a challenge they should have the resources to support them.”
Lacy admits to having been a ‘tearaway’
Thousands of suspended children a day missing out on learning
Nationally, the problem is getting worse.
New Department for Education data reveals more than 3,000 children a day lost learning through suspension from school in 2021/22.
Analysis of the data was carried out by a new “Who’s Losing Learning? Coalition”, made up of founding organisations The Difference, Impetus and IPPR.
The increase in suspension is adding to the growing problem of school absence.
And poverty is one of the main causes of low attendance.
Three times as many children receiving free school meals are absent from school than those who don’t get them.
And more than half of all suspensions were of children living in poverty, who are 3.7 times more likely to be sent home than other children.
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A child who is excluded from school can often find themselves in an alternative provision setting elsewhere in their community.
But the rising numbers of exclusions is placing unprecedented pressure on these settings too.
Calls for government funding and mental health support
Dave Whitaker, director of learning at Wellspring Academy Trust, an alternative provision and special school, said: “Local authorities, with their statutory responsibility to provide full time education for excluded pupils, are struggling to keep up with the demand for alternative places.
“The places are filling up quicker than ever and with schools excluding children in vast numbers, resources are strained and the children inevitably suffer.”
The Sky News Daily podcast will be speaking about this later today. If you’re a teacher or a parent with experiences related to suspension get in touch by emailing skynewsdaily@sky.uk
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders said: “We completely support calls to focus on identifying the reasons behind higher rates of persistent absence and suspension, as developing an understanding of the problem is crucial to fixing it.
“School and college leaders only ever suspend pupils as a last resort but there is clearly a need to look at how to prevent issues from escalating in the first place.”
Mr Barton said the solution lies in additional government funding for early intervention as well as pastoral and mental health support.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We back head teachers to take the action necessary to promote good behaviour and maintain calm and safe school environments.
“We have issued updated guidance on suspensions and permanent exclusions and are clear that early intervention should be put in place where children are at risk of being excluded and entering alternative provision. We have also formed SAFE taskforces in ten areas of the country to offer mentoring and other support to at-risk pupils in mainstream education, before challenges escalate.”
Amnesty International says it is “deeply concerning” that police made 474 arrests during a Palestine Action demonstration in London.
Metropolitan Police said 466 were detained under the Terrorism Act for showing support for a banned group.
Eight more people were arrested for other offences, including five for assaulting officers.
The Met said it was the most arrests it’s made related to a single operation in at least the past decade.
Pic: PA
Organiser of the event, Defend Our Juries, earlier said up to 700 people were at the event in Parliament Square and claimed police were preparing for the “largest mass arrest in their history”.
The group said those arrested included former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg, NHS workers, quakers and a blind wheelchair user.
Amnesty International UK’s chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said in a statement: “The protesters in Parliament Square were not inciting violence and it is entirely disproportionate to the point of absurdity to be treating them as terrorists.
“Instead of criminalising peaceful demonstrators, the government should be focusing on taking immediate and unequivocal action to put a stop to Israel’s genocide and ending any risk of UK complicity in it.”
The Met said a “significant number of people” at the event were seen “displaying placards expressing support for Palestine Action”.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The right to protest is one we protect fiercely but this is very different from displaying support for this one specific and narrow, proscribed organisation.
“Palestine Action was proscribed based on strong security advice following serious attacks the group has committed, involving violence, significant injuries and extensive criminal damage.”
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Palestine Action supporters arrested at protest
Police said those arrested had been taken to processing points in Westminster and any whose details could be confirmed were bailed on condition they didn’t attend further Palestine Action support events.
Others whose details could not be verified, possibly because they refused to give them, were taken to custody suites across London.
Pic: PA
The protests have put a strain on authorities’ capacity to cope.
Sky News understands senior leaders in the prison service, known as “Capacity Gold”, met today to discuss how to deal with the large number of arrests as the male prison estate is close to full.
It’s understood 800 inmates were moved out of the busiest jails in and around London beforehand.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police Federation said: “Thinking of our colleagues and wishing all assaulted officers well. Remember there are no ‘extra’ police officers – just the same ones having their days off cancelled, having to work longer shifts and being moved from other areas. Officers are emotionally and physically exhausted.”
Read more: What does proscribing a group mean?
Legislation to ban Palestine Action came into force on 5 July, making it a criminal offence to show support for the organisation, carrying a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
Defend Our Juries said earlier this week the protest would still go ahead, following several similar demonstrations since it was outlawed last month.
On Saturday, a spokesperson said: “Palestine Action and people holding cardboard signs present no danger to the public at large.”
Pic: PA
Human rights advocates Amnesty International described the arrests of so many people under UK terrorism law as “deeply concerning”.
Another march organised by the Palestine Coalition, which is a separate group, set off from Russell Square and assembled on Whitehall.
The Met Police said one person had been arrested there for showing a placard in support of Palestine Action.
Pic: Reuters
Earlier this week, three people charged as a result of illegal Palestine Action activity were named.
Jeremy Shippam, 71, of West Sussex, Judit Murray, also 71, of Surrey, and Fiona Maclean, 53, of Hackney in east London, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 16 September.
The ban on Palestine Action faces a legal challenge in November after the High Court granted a full judicial review to Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori.
Foreign criminals will be deported from the UK immediately after they are sentenced, the justice secretary has said.
The law change proposed by Shabana Mahmood could save taxpayers an average of £54,000 a year per prison place.
The changes would apply to prisoners serving fixed-term “determinate” sentences.
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May: Inside one of Britain’s most overcrowded prisons
Authorities would also retain their power not to deport a criminal but instead keep them in custody – with examples including if an offender is planning further crimes against the UK’s interests or national security.
The justice secretary’s announcement goes further than a change to the law in June – expected to come into force in September – meaning prisoners face deportation 30% into their sentence rather than the current 50%.
The government will need parliament to greenlight its proposal to bring this down to 0%.
Foreign national offenders make up around 12% of the prison population.
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May: Male prison capacity running at 99%
Ms Mahmood said: “Our message is clear – if you abuse our hospitality and break our laws, we will send you packing.”
She added: “Deportations are up under this government, and with this new law they will happen earlier than ever before.”
Almost 5,200 foreign national offenders have been deported since July 2024, a 14% increase on the 12 months prior, according to the government.
Read more:
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According to a Labour source, the previous Conservative government relied on prison transfer agreements with other countries to deport foreign national offenders, in deals which allow inmates to serve their custodial sentence in their “home” country.
This saw 945 prisoners sent to jails abroad between 2010 and 2023, equal to fewer than two criminals per week.
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July: Jenrick slams justice system shake-up
Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said: “In Starmer’s topsy-turvy world, investors are fleeing the country in their droves while record numbers of violent and sexual offenders from abroad are put up in our prisons. It’s a farce.
“Yet again Starmer has refused to confront our broken human rights laws.
“He needs to grow a backbone and change them so we can actually deport these individuals.
“The safety of the British public is infinitely more important than the ‘rights’ of sick foreign criminals.
“If countries won’t take back their nationals, Starmer should suspend visas and foreign aid. His soft-touch approach isn’t working.”
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