Number of pupils suspended from school reaches record high following Covid lockdown closures – The Telegraph

The number of pupils suspended from school has reached a record high as experts warn that bad behaviour has increased since lockdown school closures.

Data from the Department for Education (DfE) found that there were 263,904 suspensions in the spring term during the 2022/23 academic year, an increase from 201,090 during the period the year before.

In the same term, there were 3,039 permanent exclusions, an increase from 2,179.

Academics warned that the deeply concerning increase was a result of pupils losing the habitof going to school during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A spokesman for the DfE said: The most common reason for suspensions and permanent exclusions was persistent disruptive behaviour. This is in line with previous terms and years where this reason was the most commonly recorded.

Suspensions are typically higher in autumn term than in spring and summer, so spring 2022/23 is a change from that trend and the highest recorded number of termly suspensions.

The figures showed a 31 per cent increase in suspensions compared to the previous year, the highest outside of Covid restrictions.

The rise was particularly high among secondary children, with cases increasing from 174,522 to 232,635 - a 33 per cent jump and the equivalent of one in sixteen pupils.

Prof Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, said: The huge increases in suspensions and exclusions from school for disruptive behaviour is deeply concerning.

It seems that far too many pupils lost the habit of regularly attending school during the pandemic and on being forced to return are taking it out on the teachers.

Being thrown out of school not only harms the learning and future prospects of the pupils themselves, but also the behaviour leading to these drastic steps lowers the quality of education of other pupils.

Disruptive pupil behaviour is the major reason given by teachers for quitting the profession. The Government must urgently address the decline in pupil behaviour.

It comes as Englands exam regulator, Ofqual, published figures showing that the number of contested GCSE and A-level results increased in the year when grading returned to pre-pandemic levels in England.

Figures show that 2,570 GCSE, AS and A-level grades were challenged in 2022/23, compared to 2,430 in 2021/22.

Of these grades, 710 were changed as part of an upheld appeal in 2022/23 - which is a 15.8 per cent rise on the previous year, when 610 grades were changed.

Overall, 6.3 million grades were issued for GCSEs, AS and A-levels in 2022/23.

Last summer, the proportion of GCSE and A-level entries awarded top grades fell from the previous year when efforts were made in England to return grading to pre-pandemic levels.

It came after the pandemic led to an increase in top grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams.

A DfE spokesman said: The Government is very clear it backs head teachers to use exclusions where required, so they can provide calm, safe, and supportive environments for children to learn in.

We are providing targeted support to schools to help improve behaviour, attendance and reduce the risk of exclusions with an investment of 10 million in our Behaviour Hubs programme, and our mental health teams who will reach at least 50 per cent of pupils by 2025.

We are continuing to deliver on our plan to give every child a world-class education and standards have risen sharply across the country, with 90 per cent of schools now rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, up from just 68 per cent in 2010.

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Number of pupils suspended from school reaches record high following Covid lockdown closures - The Telegraph