Permanent exclusions

Published 11 December 2024

Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• White Gypsy or Roma (0.43), and Traveller of Irish heritage (0.35) pupils had the highest permanent exclusion rates in the 2022 to 2023 school year – 43 and 35 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils

• pupils from the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups had the lowest permanent exclusion rates (both 0.01)

• these rates are based on very small numbers of exclusions and are less reliable as a result

Further research

Research by the Anti-Bullying Alliance (PDF opens in a new window or tab) found that Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller pupils were stereotyped at school. This included teachers assuming that they were bullies.

Research by the Office for National Statistics about Gypsies’ and Travellers' lived experiences, education and employment found that Gypsy and Roma and Irish Traveller children sometimes reacted to the bullying and racism they experienced, and were unfairly excluded as a result.

Many exclusions of Gypsy and Roma and Irish Traveller pupils are appealed and overturned, as shown in Education inequalities facing Gypsies, Roma and Travellers in England (PDF opens in a new window or tab) by the charity Friends, Families and Travellers. It suggests that more understanding and support should be given to Gypsy and Roma and Irish Traveller pupils facing exclusion, as outlined in the Timpson Review of School Exclusion, to make sure that the appropriate solution is chosen. This research also found that the gap between permanent exclusion rates for Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller and White British children went down when controlling for other factors, such as poverty, special educational needs, and absence. The report suggests that the causes of higher exclusion rates among Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller pupils are likely to be varied, and encompass wider issues than just ethnicity.

2. Things you need to know

What the data measures

The data shows the number and rate (per 100 pupils) of permanent exclusions from state-funded schools in England.

There are 2 types of exclusion:

• temporary (also known as ‘suspensions’) which can be up to 45 school days – you can see data on temporary exclusions by ethnicity
• permanent, which means a pupil can’t return to the school they're excluded from

Exclusion rates are rounded to 2 decimal places. Percentages by ethnicity and reason for exclusion are rounded to 1 decimal place.

How exclusion rates are calculated

Exclusion rates for each ethnic group are based on:

• the number of pupils in January each year
• the number of exclusions in the whole school year

For example, a rate of 0.18 means there were 18 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils.

In the data by ethnicity and reason for exclusion, the percentages are based on total reasons, not all pupils.

The ethnic groups used in the data

Data is shown for the 18 ethnic groups used in the 2021 Census, with 1 exception:

• there are separate categories for White Gypsy or Roma, and Traveller of Irish heritage pupils

Data analysed over time, by reason and by local authority is shown for the following aggregated groups:

• Asian
• Black
• Mixed
• White
• 'other'

This is to make sure pupil numbers are large enough to be reliable.

Pupils’ ethnicity was not known for 150 permanent school exclusions (1.5%). Rates are shown separately for pupils whose ethnic group was not known.

Methodology

Read the detailed methodology document for this data.

You can also read about a data checking exercise for data from 1997 to 2010, which led to some figures being updated.

Data for the White Gypsy or Roma, and Traveller of Irish heritage groups is based on small numbers of pupils. There are low numbers of exclusions in some ethnic groups. This makes it difficult to make reliable generalisations. Read more about how group size affects the reliability of data.

Since the 2020 to 2021 school year, schools have been able to record up to 3 reasons for each exclusion. There is no requirement to order the reasons. In previous years, there was a different list of reasons and schools had to report the main reason for each exclusion. This means data on the reasons for exclusions is not comparable with those before the 2020 to 2021 school year.

In the data file

In the school years up to July 2017, ethnicity was only collected for pupils of compulsory school age. As a result, the analysis of exclusions by ethnicity in these years only includes pupils of compulsory school age. Pupils above compulsory school age are still included in the overall exclusion totals but do not match total exclusions by ethnicity.

The decimal places against values for 1997 to 2010 are a result of a data checking exercise, which led to some figures being updated.

3. Permanent exclusions by ethnicity

• Location: England
• Time period: 2022 to 2023 school year
• Source: Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England

Permanent exclusion rate, and number of permanent exclusions, by ethnicity

Ethnicity	Rate	Number
All	0.11	9,376
Asian	0.04	393
Bangladeshi	0.03	40
Chinese	0.01	7
Indian	0.01	39
Pakistani	0.06	236
Asian other	0.04	71
Black	0.09	434
Black African	0.06	218
Black Caribbean	0.18	145
Black other	0.11	71
Mixed	0.14	786
Mixed White and Asian	0.10	136
Mixed White and Black African	0.14	111
Mixed White and Black Caribbean	0.24	323
Mixed other	0.10	216
White	0.12	7,411
White British	0.13	6,874
Gypsy or Roma	0.43	121
White Irish	0.12	26
Irish Traveller	0.35	24
White other	0.06	366
Other	0.06	114
Unknown	0.17	238

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Permanent exclusions Permanent exclusions by ethnicity Summary

This data is based on a small number of pupils and is less reliable as a result.

The data shows that, in the 2022 to 2023 school year:

• there were 11 permanent exclusions for every 10,000 pupils in England (a rate of 0.11)

• the White Gypsy or Roma (0.43), and Traveller of Irish heritage (0.35) ethnic groups had the highest permanent exclusion rates – 43 and 35 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils

• the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups had the lowest exclusion rates (both 0.01, or 1 exclusion for every 10,000 pupils)

• the rate for White British pupils was 0.13, or 13 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils

4. Permanent exclusions by ethnicity over time

• Location: England
• Time period: September 2006 to July 2023
• Source: Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England

Permanent exclusion rate, and number of permanent exclusions, by ethnicity over time

	All		Asian		Black		Mixed		White		Other		Unknown
School year	All Rate	All Number	Asian Rate	Asian Number	Black Rate	Black Number	Mixed Rate	Mixed Number	White Rate	White Number	Other Rate	Other Number	Unknown Rate	Unknown Number
2006/07	0.13	8,645.58	0.06	341.67	0.23	642.99	0.23	506.41	0.12	6,769.30	0.07	49.22	0.33	335.98
2007/08	0.12	8,109.84	0.06	310.67	0.24	695.96	0.20	458.30	0.12	6,355.74	0.10	79.28	0.26	209.88
2008/09	0.10	6,358.82	0.05	290.02	0.18	536.04	0.15	361.25	0.09	4,947.85	0.09	71.91	0.22	151.76
2009/10	0.09	5,708.83	0.04	247.02	0.19	598.70	0.15	385.45	0.08	4,321.95	0.06	55.72	0.15	100.00
2010/11	0.08	5,069.00	0.03	211.00	0.14	443.00	0.13	362.00	0.07	3,853.00	0.05	47.00	0.25	153.00
2011/12	0.07	5,166.00	0.03	220.00	0.11	422.00	0.11	366.00	0.07	3,992.00	0.05	55.00	0.09	111.00
2012/13	0.07	4,610.00	0.03	217.00	0.11	397.00	0.11	346.00	0.07	3,524.00	0.06	58.00	0.11	68.00
2013/14	0.07	4,923.00	0.03	199.00	0.12	433.00	0.11	350.00	0.07	3,804.00	0.05	49.00	0.14	88.00
2014/15	0.08	5,766.00	0.03	242.00	0.12	464.00	0.12	428.00	0.09	4,452.00	0.07	76.00	0.16	104.00
2015/16	0.10	6,635.00	0.04	317.00	0.14	540.00	0.14	521.00	0.10	5,056.00	0.07	89.00	0.16	112.00
2016/17	0.10	7,719.00	0.03	312.00	0.14	619.00	0.14	635.00	0.10	5,897.00	0.07	100.00	0.18	156.00
2017/18	0.10	7,905.00	0.04	364.00	0.13	588.00	0.16	745.00	0.10	5,945.00	0.06	96.00	0.18	167.00
2018/19	0.10	7,894.00	0.04	369.00	0.11	529.00	0.13	658.00	0.10	6,038.00	0.08	121.00	0.17	179.00
2019/20	0.06	5,057.00	0.03	256.00	0.07	311.00	0.08	427.00	0.06	3,882.00	0.03	56.00	0.11	125.00
2020/21	0.05	3,928.00	0.02	209.00	0.05	222.00	0.06	336.00	0.05	3,004.00	0.03	54.00	0.08	103.00
2021/22	0.08	6,495.00	0.03	309.00	0.07	356.00	0.11	598.00	0.08	4,997.00	0.05	85.00	0.11	150.00
2022/23	0.11	9,376.00	0.04	393.00	0.09	434.00	0.14	786.00	0.12	7,411.00	0.06	114.00	0.17	238.00

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Permanent exclusions Permanent exclusions by ethnicity over time Summary

COVID-19 restrictions affected the number of exclusions in the 2 school years from September 2019 to July 2021.

The data shows that:

• in the 16 school years covered by the data, the average exclusion rate in England went down from 0.13 to 0.11 – or from 13 to 11 permanent exclusions for every 10,000 pupils

• the biggest decrease out of all ethnic groups was for Black pupils – from 23 to 9 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils

• the exclusion rate for White pupils was the same as or similar to the national average in all years covered by the data

• the rates were lowest for the Asian and ‘other’ ethnic groups in each year

• since the 2020 to 2021 school year, exclusion rates have gone up in every ethnic group

5. Permanent exclusions by ethnicity and type of school

• Location: England
• Time period: 2022 to 2023 school year
• Source: Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England

Permanent exclusion rate, and number of permanent exclusions, by ethnicity and type of school

	State-funded primary		State-funded secondary		State-funded special		Total
Ethnicity	State-funded primary Rate	State-funded primary Number	State-funded secondary Rate	State-funded secondary Number	State-funded special Rate	State-funded special Number	Total Rate	Total Number
All	0.03	1,201	0.22	8,054	0.08	121	0.11	9,376
Asian	0.00	28	0.08	361	0.02	4	0.04	393
Bangladeshi	0.00	1	0.06	38	0.04	1	0.03	40
Chinese	0.00	1	0.02	6	0.00	0	0.01	7
Indian	0.00	2	0.03	36	0.03	1	0.01	39
Pakistani	0.01	16	0.13	218	0.03	2	0.06	236
Asian other	0.01	8	0.08	63	0.00	0	0.04	71
Black	0.02	48	0.17	382	0.04	4	0.09	434
Black African	0.01	24	0.12	192	0.03	2	0.06	218
Black Caribbean	0.04	17	0.33	127	0.06	1	0.18	145
Black other	0.02	7	0.22	63	0.06	1	0.11	71
Mixed	0.04	118	0.28	652	0.15	16	0.14	786
Mixed White and Asian	0.02	19	0.20	114	0.15	3	0.10	136
Mixed White and Black African	0.04	18	0.28	91	0.14	2	0.14	111
Mixed White and Black Caribbean	0.05	41	0.50	276	0.20	6	0.24	323
Mixed other	0.03	40	0.19	171	0.12	5	0.10	216
White	0.03	986	0.25	6,331	0.09	94	0.12	7,411
White British	0.03	914	0.26	5,871	0.09	89	0.13	6,874
Gypsy or Roma	0.08	15	1.19	105	0.19	1	0.43	121
White Irish	0.03	3	0.23	23	0.00	0	0.12	26
Irish Traveller	0.13	7	1.19	17	0.00	0	0.35	24
White other	0.01	47	0.13	315	0.06	4	0.06	366
Other	0.00	4	0.13	108	0.07	2	0.06	114
Unknown	0.03	17	0.30	220	0.04	1	0.17	238

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Permanent exclusions Permanent exclusions by ethnicity and type of school Summary

The data shows that:

• secondary schools had the highest permanent exclusion rate out of the 3 types of school (0.22, or 22 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils)

• pupils from the Mixed and White ethnic groups had the highest exclusion rates in secondary schools (0.25 and 0.28, or 25 and 28 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils)

• out of all ethnic groups and types of school, the highest rate was for White Gypsy or Roma, and Traveller of Irish heritage pupils in secondary schools (both 1.19, or 119 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils) – this data is based on small numbers of pupils and is less reliable as a result

• pupils from the Chinese ethnic group had the lowest exclusion rate in secondary schools (0.02, or 2 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils)

• for all ethnic groups, primary schools had the lowest rate (0.03, or 3 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils)

6. Permanent exclusions by ethnicity and local authority

• Location: England
• Time period: 2022 to 2023 school year
• Source: Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England

Permanent exclusion rate, and number of permanent exclusions, by ethnicity and local authority

	All		Asian		Black		Mixed		White		Other		Unknown
Local Authority	All Rate	All Number	Asian Rate	Asian Number	Black Rate	Black Number	Mixed Rate	Mixed Number	White Rate	White Number	Other Rate	Other Number	Unknown Rate	Unknown Number
Barking and Dagenham	0.04	45,400	0.01	13,786	0.06	10,838	0.05	4,279	0.05	14,751	0.00	833	0.00	913
Barnet	0.03	62,026	0.00	9,431	0.10	6,274	0.04	7,052	0.02	30,325	0.04	7,125	0.11	1,819
Barnsley	0.26	35,191	0.00	365	0.53	380	0.57	873	0.25	33,078	0.00	176	0.94	319
Bath and North East Somerset	0.14	27,504	0.14	700	0.00	235	0.13	1,594	0.14	24,136	0.00	224	0.49	615
Bedford	0.15	31,097	0.04	5,082	0.09	2,144	0.40	3,457	0.13	19,560	0.00	432	0.71	422
Bexley	0.11	43,641	0.02	5,604	0.07	7,332	0.09	4,292	0.16	25,048	0.00	680	0.00	685
Birmingham	0.14	203,797	0.07	77,626	0.15	26,532	0.26	19,940	0.19	62,452	0.10	12,148	0.20	5,099
Blackburn with Darwen	0.13	27,761	0.06	12,891	0.00	379	0.18	1,094	0.18	12,548	0.19	537	0.32	312
Blackpool	0.22	19,880	0.00	708	0.00	147	0.27	752	0.23	17,936	0.00	210	0.00	127
Bolton	0.20	53,278	0.03	14,383	0.16	3,715	0.22	2,697	0.30	30,813	0.08	1,252	0.00	418
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	0.23	52,816	0.00	2,459	0.00	800	0.29	3,475	0.23	44,283	0.00	810	0.51	989
Bracknell Forest	0.05	18,806	0.06	1,547	0.00	580	0.00	1,271	0.06	14,970	0.00	172	0.00	266
Bradford	0.15	100,317	0.06	42,449	0.19	2,701	0.30	6,635	0.21	45,080	0.05	1,986	0.14	1,466
Brent	0.06	48,150	0.02	15,222	0.12	8,819	0.21	3,862	0.01	12,615	0.05	6,586	0.19	1,046
Brighton and Hove	0.01	31,178	0.00	1,503	0.00	727	0.00	3,272	0.00	24,361	0.00	984	0.30	331
Bristol, City of	0.06	62,249	0.00	5,699	0.08	6,516	0.07	5,925	0.06	41,732	0.00	1,078	0.00	1,299
Bromley	0.09	53,175	0.02	5,225	0.14	5,773	0.10	6,712	0.09	33,344	0.00	858	0.24	1,263
Buckinghamshire	0.04	89,263	0.02	19,372	0.04	2,835	0.04	7,453	0.04	57,596	0.26	781	0.00	1,226
Bury	0.09	29,122	0.06	4,910	0.21	937	0.12	1,709	0.09	20,823	0.21	486	0.00	257
Calderdale	0.22	36,459	0.18	6,723	0.00	397	0.23	1,727	0.23	27,052	0.00	283	0.72	277
Cambridgeshire	0.02	90,879	0.00	5,442	0.00	1,635	0.02	6,043	0.03	74,641	0.00	1,087	0.05	2,031
Camden	0.08	21,565	0.05	4,163	0.16	3,736	0.10	3,063	0.05	8,312	0.06	1,724	0.18	567
Central Bedfordshire	0.15	47,756	0.06	1,795	0.07	1,362	0.17	3,619	0.16	39,854	0.00	310	0.00	816
Cheshire East	0.09	57,035	0.00	2,015	0.00	543	0.04	2,425	0.10	50,530	0.00	386	0.09	1,136
Cheshire West and Chester	0.10	51,852	0.00	1,446	0.00	596	0.11	1,765	0.10	47,248	0.00	327	0.21	470
City of London	0.00	271	0.00	117	0.00	15	0.00	47	0.00	75	0.00	17	0.00	NA
Cornwall	0.22	74,306	0.00	408	0.00	142	0.10	1,947	0.22	70,358	0.40	252	0.33	1,199
County Durham	0.12	73,314	0.09	1,071	0.00	508	0.15	1,373	0.12	69,572	0.00	417	0.00	373
Coventry	0.13	59,901	0.04	13,597	0.10	8,294	0.31	4,476	0.16	31,447	0.00	1,416	0.15	671
Croydon	0.04	57,796	0.01	10,185	0.06	15,880	0.05	9,129	0.03	19,588	0.00	1,609	0.14	1,405
Cumbria	0.12	70,392	0.00	753	0.29	339	0.14	1,421	0.12	66,026	0.00	307	0.19	1,546
Darlington	0.18	15,979	0.00	649	0.00	223	0.44	450	0.18	14,385	0.63	159	0.00	113
Derby	0.06	44,649	0.00	9,297	0.17	2,421	0.11	3,612	0.07	27,282	0.00	1,206	0.00	831
Derbyshire	0.17	108,568	0.05	2,003	0.00	756	0.21	3,783	0.18	100,186	0.00	393	0.07	1,447
Devon	0.17	101,020	0.07	1,389	0.00	370	0.21	2,828	0.17	93,770	0.00	1,043	0.25	1,620
Doncaster	0.17	48,053	0.00	2,038	0.42	953	0.17	1,801	0.18	42,177	0.15	648	0.00	436
Dorset	0.12	48,299	0.00	680	0.00	177	0.07	1,415	0.12	45,073	0.61	164	0.25	790
Dudley	0.18	47,893	0.00	5,228	0.37	1,609	0.33	3,948	0.17	35,307	0.10	964	0.36	837
Ealing	0.10	54,464	0.05	16,385	0.22	7,159	0.11	5,227	0.08	15,416	0.11	9,382	0.00	895
East Riding of Yorkshire	0.13	45,612	0.00	329	0.00	123	0.17	1,155	0.13	43,161	0.00	327	0.19	517
East Sussex	0.12	68,302	0.00	1,872	0.00	664	0.11	3,774	0.12	60,356	0.00	381	0.32	1,255
Enfield	0.01	56,229	0.00	4,869	0.02	12,078	0.03	6,504	0.01	27,332	0.00	3,396	0.05	2,050
Essex	0.07	221,360	0.02	10,126	0.11	9,086	0.11	12,878	0.07	183,286	0.00	2,253	0.16	3,731
Gateshead	0.23	28,791	0.00	1,091	0.00	869	0.24	828	0.25	24,857	0.12	838	0.00	308
Gloucestershire	0.11	91,998	0.00	4,561	0.11	1,821	0.24	4,975	0.10	78,160	0.43	469	0.10	2,012
Greenwich	0.02	44,414	0.00	4,755	0.02	13,153	0.02	5,617	0.02	18,669	0.00	1,354	0.12	866
Hackney	0.10	33,617	0.02	4,047	0.12	10,692	0.21	4,289	0.07	11,961	0.05	2,133	0.20	495
Halton	0.22	18,816	0.00	105	0.00	57	0.16	632	0.22	17,496	0.00	160	0.55	366
Hammersmith and Fulham	0.06	19,980	0.00	1,666	0.15	4,099	0.07	2,857	0.02	8,049	0.04	2,400	0.11	909
Hampshire	0.07	183,799	0.00	8,215	0.00	3,075	0.07	8,769	0.07	161,062	0.00	1,257	0.28	1,421
Haringey	0.01	37,825	0.00	2,623	0.00	7,794	0.02	5,035	0.01	18,008	0.00	3,130	0.00	1,235
Harrow	0.07	39,160	0.02	19,820	0.15	3,289	0.06	3,250	0.11	10,137	0.15	2,037	0.16	627
Hartlepool	0.15	15,117	0.00	421	0.58	171	0.00	241	0.15	13,944	0.00	117	0.00	223
Havering	0.05	42,213	0.02	5,498	0.13	4,460	0.05	3,672	0.04	27,428	0.20	488	0.15	667
Herefordshire, County of	0.13	23,778	0.00	410	0.00	104	0.00	754	0.14	22,193	0.00	176	0.00	141
Hertfordshire	0.08	200,481	0.03	20,836	0.12	9,725	0.10	17,204	0.09	147,227	0.04	2,602	0.07	2,887
Hillingdon	0.08	53,068	0.02	16,471	0.16	5,101	0.14	7,150	0.06	18,560	0.08	4,767	0.39	1,019
Hounslow	0.12	45,879	0.06	16,884	0.13	4,540	0.09	4,497	0.21	13,649	0.14	5,166	0.09	1,143
Isle of Wight	0.08	16,792	0.00	195	0.00	110	0.00	720	0.08	15,521	0.00	92	0.00	154
Isles of Scilly	0.00	263		NA		NA	0.00	10	0.00	248		NA	0.00	5
Islington	0.05	23,558	0.05	2,116	0.06	5,354	0.07	4,196	0.04	9,746	0.06	1,810	0.00	336
Kensington and Chelsea	0.14	13,239	0.15	684	0.18	2,278	0.16	2,534	0.12	5,018	0.09	2,155	0.18	570
Kent	0.02	250,300	0.00	14,162	0.02	10,695	0.06	16,154	0.01	202,547	0.00	3,162	0.06	3,580
Kingston upon Hull, City of	0.07	42,692	0.24	821	0.00	1,508	0.05	1,844	0.08	36,294	0.00	1,448	0.00	777
Kingston upon Thames	0.04	27,066	0.02	5,804	0.25	806	0.06	3,286	0.03	14,993	0.00	1,622	0.18	555
Kirklees	0.13	67,238	0.04	18,909	0.15	1,949	0.26	5,057	0.16	39,177	0.00	1,025	0.27	1,121
Knowsley	0.15	21,402	0.00	446	0.31	319	0.16	629	0.15	19,656	0.00	193	0.63	159
Lambeth	0.02	36,069	0.00	2,195	0.03	13,806	0.04	5,638	0.00	11,162	0.05	2,198	0.00	1,070
Lancashire	0.25	176,279	0.10	22,168	0.00	1,554	0.44	6,744	0.26	142,119	0.07	1,518	0.74	2,176
Leeds	0.01	131,372	0.01	17,518	0.00	10,937	0.05	9,675	0.01	87,530	0.00	3,068	0.00	2,644
Leicester	0.04	60,331	0.00	28,543	0.07	6,002	0.06	4,659	0.08	18,510	0.00	1,693	0.11	924
Leicestershire	0.07	100,840	0.01	9,570	0.00	1,616	0.09	5,860	0.07	82,233	0.00	581	0.20	980
Lewisham	0.04	37,967	0.00	2,695	0.06	11,953	0.06	6,618	0.04	13,560	0.00	1,560	0.06	1,581
Lincolnshire	0.15	108,721	0.00	2,692	0.08	1,226	0.15	3,981	0.16	98,068	0.00	833	0.16	1,921
Liverpool	0.20	76,921	0.12	5,089	0.16	4,495	0.18	4,499	0.22	57,593	0.05	4,365	0.45	880
Luton	0.06	39,880	0.05	19,058	0.02	4,039	0.08	3,696	0.08	11,710	0.00	910	0.00	467
Manchester	0.11	92,854	0.03	24,469	0.06	15,980	0.22	9,006	0.17	34,047	0.08	7,732	0.12	1,620
Medway	0.11	49,579	0.03	3,054	0.04	5,416	0.14	3,530	0.13	36,221	0.00	591	0.13	767
Merton	0.05	27,985	0.02	5,980	0.11	3,603	0.09	3,510	0.04	13,505	0.00	965	0.00	422
Middlesbrough	0.28	25,753	0.10	2,893	0.08	1,278	0.20	1,469	0.33	18,916	0.20	991	0.97	206
Milton Keynes	0.00	51,027	0.00	8,364	0.00	7,137	0.00	4,678	0.00	28,942	0.00	689	0.00	1,217
Newcastle upon Tyne	0.14	42,140	0.02	6,156	0.10	2,935	0.08	2,415	0.18	28,541	0.12	1,641	0.22	452
Newham	0.06	63,445	0.03	31,522	0.11	11,659	0.08	4,954	0.13	11,177	0.03	3,305	0.00	828
Norfolk	0.19	118,649	0.00	2,989	0.05	1,881	0.32	4,633	0.19	105,722	0.00	1,087	0.13	2,337
North East Lincolnshire	0.17	24,052	0.00	269	0.00	226	0.00	712	0.18	21,985	0.00	241	0.16	619
North Lincolnshire	0.11	24,633	0.00	1,054	0.00	219	0.36	554	0.10	22,103	0.26	390	0.64	313
North Northamptonshire	0.18	55,901	0.08	2,397	0.04	2,843	0.19	3,219	0.19	46,280	0.00	469	0.29	693
North Somerset	0.11	31,480	0.00	688	0.75	265	0.16	1,223	0.10	28,878	0.00	105	0.31	321
North Tyneside	0.28	31,314	0.00	1,134	0.91	330	0.49	1,019	0.27	28,388	0.49	203	0.00	240
North Yorkshire	0.09	82,875	0.00	2,027	0.00	575	0.17	2,422	0.09	75,999	0.00	500	0.07	1,352
Northumberland	0.20	45,429	0.00	766	0.00	154	0.10	957	0.20	42,998	0.00	218	0.00	336
Nottingham	0.20	48,575	0.03	9,807	0.10	6,272	0.22	6,703	0.29	22,944	0.05	1,868	0.41	981
Nottinghamshire	0.10	127,678	0.02	6,149	0.04	2,422	0.12	6,930	0.10	108,038	0.00	1,101	0.20	3,038
Oldham	0.09	45,944	0.06	15,302	0.04	2,394	0.19	2,575	0.10	24,430	0.31	639	0.17	604
Oxfordshire	0.02	100,197	0.03	7,495	0.00	3,009	0.06	7,709	0.02	77,711	0.00	1,809	0.04	2,464
Peterborough	0.14	40,660	0.08	7,186	0.09	2,344	0.09	3,307	0.16	25,768	0.00	725	0.38	1,330
Plymouth	0.13	39,014	0.00	887	0.14	701	0.15	1,348	0.13	34,866	0.28	705	0.20	507
Portsmouth	0.04	27,642	0.00	2,241	0.00	1,555	0.13	1,519	0.04	21,208	0.00	589	0.38	530
Reading	0.05	24,241	0.03	7,140	0.00	2,193	0.07	2,771	0.08	10,778	0.00	572	0.00	787
Redbridge	0.06	58,358	0.03	33,377	0.08	5,093	0.17	4,745	0.08	13,183	0.00	992	0.00	968
Redcar and Cleveland	0.29	21,262	0.42	236	0.00	104	0.37	543	0.27	19,987	0.00	147	1.63	245
Richmond upon Thames	0.02	28,890	0.00	3,208	0.00	789	0.00	3,576	0.02	19,498	0.10	959	0.00	860
Rochdale	0.22	37,781	0.08	9,768	0.13	2,314	0.27	2,253	0.28	22,477	0.00	552	0.48	417
Rotherham	0.14	45,062	0.05	3,853	0.30	988	0.06	1,671	0.15	37,685	0.00	453	0.24	412
Rutland	0.07	6,105	0.00	71	0.00	95	0.44	228	0.04	5,577	0.00	32	0.98	102
Salford	0.17	38,394	0.06	1,724	0.03	3,062	0.11	3,806	0.21	27,724	0.14	1,413	0.00	665
Sandwell	0.08	62,475	0.02	20,113	0.11	6,524	0.18	6,130	0.08	26,968	0.11	1,744	0.20	996
Sefton	0.09	40,371	0.00	772	0.00	424	0.00	1,263	0.09	37,100	0.00	456	0.00	356
Sheffield	0.16	84,792	0.09	11,570	0.06	6,445	0.29	7,229	0.16	54,626	0.12	3,412	0.33	1,510
Shropshire	0.20	39,944	0.00	631	0.00	249	0.42	1,191	0.19	37,190	0.00	102	0.17	581
Slough	0.09	33,394	0.03	17,769	0.17	2,352	0.18	3,919	0.19	7,392	0.00	1,371	0.00	591
Solihull	0.16	40,401	0.04	6,775	0.21	974	0.36	3,637	0.17	28,013	0.00	442	0.00	560
Somerset	0.13	72,471	0.00	1,606	0.34	582	0.09	2,174	0.14	66,490	0.00	338	0.00	1,281
South Gloucestershire	0.08	41,019	0.00	2,477	0.09	1,102	0.08	2,482	0.08	34,144	0.00	371	0.23	443
South Tyneside	0.15	22,654	0.11	922	0.37	267	0.00	722	0.16	20,277	0.00	210	0.39	256
Southampton	0.12	33,789	0.08	5,070	0.06	1,575	0.08	2,484	0.14	23,745	0.00	760	0.65	155
Southend-on-Sea	0.10	31,279	0.09	3,492	0.00	2,105	0.04	2,254	0.12	22,733	0.00	350	0.00	345
Southwark	0.05	42,279	0.00	2,893	0.04	16,175	0.03	5,742	0.06	12,512	0.03	3,190	0.17	1,767
St. Helens	0.11	27,171	0.00	527	0.00	263	0.00	660	0.11	25,372	0.00	221	0.00	128
Staffordshire	0.18	124,796	0.05	6,227	0.08	1,260	0.24	5,446	0.19	109,933	0.00	786	0.35	1,144
Stockport	0.18	43,405	0.11	4,400	0.27	740	0.11	2,645	0.19	34,408	0.17	596	0.16	616
Stockton-on-Tees	0.26	32,301	0.15	1,943	0.14	723	0.51	1,186	0.27	27,901	0.00	305	0.41	243
Stoke-on-Trent	0.23	41,137	0.14	7,190	0.15	2,000	0.30	2,311	0.26	28,452	0.10	1,033	0.00	151
Suffolk	0.16	104,332	0.00	2,362	0.23	1,324	0.18	6,527	0.16	90,092	0.17	1,201	0.42	2,826
Sunderland	0.22	40,869	0.00	1,875	0.00	1,354	0.22	907	0.24	36,280	0.00	203	0.00	250
Surrey	0.09	163,127	0.02	14,877	0.13	3,757	0.12	12,300	0.09	126,818	0.05	2,050	0.06	3,325
Sutton	0.19	41,045	0.02	11,838	0.18	3,272	0.21	4,336	0.31	19,944	0.00	923	0.27	732
Swindon	0.14	37,001	0.02	5,383	0.13	1,535	0.22	2,272	0.16	26,825	0.00	455	0.19	531
Tameside	0.17	37,445	0.13	4,708	0.08	1,243	0.00	2,381	0.19	28,243	0.44	457	0.24	413
Telford and Wrekin	0.07	31,880	0.03	2,921	0.06	1,727	0.15	2,031	0.07	24,312	0.00	178	0.14	711
Thurrock	0.06	31,559	0.04	2,753	0.08	4,840	0.00	2,391	0.05	20,461	0.00	432	0.29	682
Torbay	0.25	20,272	0.00	443	0.00	69	0.00	742	0.26	18,655	0.00	125	0.84	238
Tower Hamlets	0.01	45,710	0.00	30,231	0.00	4,253	0.00	3,581	0.02	5,854	0.07	1,376	0.00	415
Trafford	0.12	43,675	0.01	9,081	0.05	1,938	0.36	3,854	0.12	27,030	0.08	1,248	0.19	524
Wakefield	0.08	54,568	0.11	2,685	0.00	1,198	0.10	2,100	0.08	47,182	0.00	587	0.00	816
Walsall	0.09	52,917	0.03	13,178	0.05	3,815	0.17	4,011	0.11	30,627	0.00	811	0.00	475
Waltham Forest	0.09	42,247	0.06	10,405	0.13	6,864	0.11	5,516	0.10	17,296	0.12	1,693	0.00	473
Wandsworth	0.06	33,028	0.02	5,807	0.11	6,333	0.06	4,874	0.04	13,492	0.06	1,687	0.12	835
Warrington	0.07	33,174	0.04	2,536	0.27	375	0.15	1,300	0.07	28,296	0.00	311	0.00	356
Warwickshire	0.15	88,598	0.00	7,544	0.12	1,718	0.12	5,123	0.16	71,881	0.00	916	0.35	1,416
West Berkshire	0.11	26,835	0.07	1,529	0.00	434	0.19	1,581	0.11	22,745	0.00	299	0.00	247
West Northamptonshire	0.12	67,417	0.04	4,808	0.06	4,800	0.10	4,833	0.12	51,268	0.35	568	0.35	1,140
West Sussex	0.07	118,084	0.05	7,335	0.05	2,144	0.06	7,078	0.08	98,928	0.00	981	0.12	1,618
Westminster	0.03	21,325	0.00	3,225	0.07	4,050	0.00	2,600	0.04	5,433	0.04	5,470	0.00	547
Wigan	0.16	47,981	0.00	1,315	0.09	1,114	0.07	1,456	0.17	43,194	0.00	614	0.35	288
Wiltshire	0.01	70,704	0.00	1,990	0.00	1,332	0.07	2,746	0.00	62,261	0.00	603	0.00	1,772
Windsor and Maidenhead	0.10	22,612	0.03	3,854	0.23	431	0.13	2,250	0.10	15,169	0.41	489	0.00	419
Wirral	0.12	50,917	0.05	1,985	0.00	330	0.17	1,747	0.12	46,160	0.00	373	0.31	322
Wokingham	0.05	29,650	0.02	5,920	0.10	1,001	0.04	2,447	0.06	19,294	0.00	393	0.17	595
Wolverhampton	0.14	48,839	0.05	13,097	0.19	6,314	0.28	5,978	0.15	22,085	0.00	821	0.18	544
Worcestershire	0.15	82,426	0.00	3,712	0.26	757	0.22	3,608	0.15	72,144	0.00	478	0.29	1,727
York	0.06	25,518	0.00	880	0.00	249	0.10	975	0.06	22,754	0.00	247	0.24	413

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Permanent exclusions Permanent exclusions by ethnicity and local authority Summary

Some of this data is based on small numbers of pupils and is less reliable as a result.

The data shows that:

• the permanent exclusion rate was highest in Redcar and Cleveland (0.29, or 29 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils)

• the highest rate of exclusions for White pupils was in Middlesbrough (0.33, or 33 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils)

• the highest rate of exclusions for Asian pupils was in Redcar and Cleveland (0.42, or 42 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils)

• the highest rate of exclusions for Black pupils was in North Tyneside (0.91, or 91 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils)

• the highest rate of exclusions for pupils with Mixed ethnicity was in Barnsley (0.57, or 57 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils)

7. Permanent exclusions by ethnicity and reason

• Location: England
• Time period: 2022 to 2023 school year
• Source: Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England

Percentage and number of permanent exclusions, by ethnicity and reason

	All		Asian		Black		Mixed		White		Other		Unknown
Reason	All %	All Number	Asian %	Asian Number	Black %	Black Number	Mixed %	Mixed Number	White %	White Number	Other %	Other Number	Unknown %	Unknown Number
Abuse against sexual orientation and gender identity	0.1	16	0.2	1	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.1	13	0.7	1	0.3	1
Abuse relating to disability	0.0	5	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	4	0.7	1	0.0	0
Bullying	0.7	95	0.6	3	1.6	9	0.9	9	0.7	70	1.4	2	0.6	2
Damage	2.8	367	1.0	5	1.2	7	1.7	18	3.2	325	0.7	1	3.5	11
Drug and alcohol related	4.6	590	6.7	34	6.0	35	6.9	73	4.1	422	5.1	7	6.1	19
Inappropritae use of social media or online technology	0.7	86	1.4	7	1.2	7	1.0	10	0.5	54	2.9	4	1.3	4
Persistent disruptive behaviour	38.5	4,972	28.0	143	26.3	152	35.5	373	40.2	4,147	31.9	44	36.0	113
Physical assault against a pupil	15.3	1,970	20.0	102	19.9	115	16.9	178	14.6	1,501	18.8	26	15.3	48
Physical assault against an adult	11.9	1,531	9.4	48	14.5	84	12.5	131	11.8	1,221	9.4	13	10.8	34
Racist abuse	0.5	66	1.2	6	0.0	0	0.6	6	0.5	47	2.9	4	1.0	3
Sexual misconduct	1.1	146	2.2	11	2.6	15	1.4	15	0.9	96	3.6	5	1.3	4
Theft	0.4	50	0.6	3	0.9	5	0.7	7	0.3	31	2.2	3	0.3	1
Use or threat of use of an offensive weapon or prohibited item	5.3	686	15.5	79	10.7	62	6.3	66	4.3	446	9.4	13	6.4	20
Verbal abuse/ threatening behaviour against a pupil	5.2	674	6.7	34	5.5	32	5.1	54	5.2	536	2.9	4	4.5	14
Verbal abuse/ threatening behaviour against an adult	12.3	1,590	6.1	31	9.0	52	10.2	107	13.1	1,354	6.5	9	11.8	37
Wilful and repeated transgression of protective measures in place to protect public health	0.5	64	0.6	3	0.7	4	0.5	5	0.5	48	0.7	1	1.0	3

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Permanent exclusions Permanent exclusions by ethnicity and reason Summary

Schools can record up to 3 reasons for each permanent exclusion, in no order. Because of this, the total number of reasons does not match the total number of permanent exclusions. For each ethnic group, the percentage is calculated out of the total reasons, not all pupils.

Some of this data is based on a small number of pupils and is less reliable as a result.

The data shows that:

• 38.5% of all permanent exclusions were for persistent disruptive behaviour, and 15.3% were for physical assault against a pupil

• persistent disruptive behaviour was the most common reason why pupils in the White (40.2%), Mixed (35.5%), Asian (28.0%), and Black (26.3%) ethnic groups were excluded

• the least common reasons were theft (0.4%) and abuse relating to disability (0.0%)

8. Data sources

Source

Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England

Type of data

Administrative data

Type of statistic

Official statistics

Publisher

Department for Education

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

The data presents statistics for; reasons schools report for excluding and suspending pupils exclusions and suspensions by pupil characteristics

9. Download the data

Permanent exclusions national 2022/23 - Spreadsheet (csv) 187 KB

This file contains the following variables: measure, time, time_type, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, geography, geography_type, type_of_school, value (exclusion rate), value_type, numerator (number of exclusions), denominator (pupils)

Permanent exclusions local authority 2022/23 - Spreadsheet (csv) 1 MB

This file contains the following variables: measure, time, time_type, geography, geography_type, geography_code, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, type_of_school, value (exclusion rate), value_type, numerator (number of exclusions), denominator (pupils)

Permanent exclusions reasons 2022/23 - Spreadsheet (csv) 37 KB

This file contains the following variables: measure, time, time_type, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, geography, geography_type, reason (for exclusion), value (percentage), value_type, numerator, denominator

Publication release date: 11 December 2024

full page history

1. 11 December 2024 Updated with the latest available data.

From: Department for Education

Previous editions:

1. 8 February 2024
2. 7 February 2023

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