Yorkshire school excludes pupils more often than any other in England

Department for Education figures show there were a total of 5,849 permanent or temporary exclusions across the 127 state schools in Doncaster in the 2020-21 academic year. This works out at a rate of 12.4 exclusions for every 100 pupils – one of the highest rates in England.

And of the 119 schools in the area with at least 100 pupils, this rate was highest at Astrea Academy Woodfields – a state-funded secondary school.

The secondary sponsor-led academy ordered two permanent exclusions and 971 temporary exclusions – a rate of 127 per 100 pupils. This means it issued more exclusions than it has pupils, giving it the highest exclusion rate of the almost 19,000 schools in England.

At 113.9, Outwood Academy Danum also had one of the highest rates in the country.

Around 37 per cent of schools across England did not suspend or permanently exclude any students in 2020-21, while almost a dozen issued more exclusions than they have pupils.

A spokesperson for Astrea Academy Woodfields who said: “The vast majority of our students are a credit to our school community and help to make our school a safe and enjoyable place to learn.

"A minority of our students account for a significant proportion of exclusions. These are too high and our school leaders are working hard to support all our students to meet our high expectations.

“Our students have a clear understanding of the incremental approach that we take before an exclusion is decided, including opportunities to reflect and to improve their behaviour. It is our priority to ensure that all lessons are disruption-free, and that communal areas are safe and happy places for all students to be.”

The Children’s Society said there may be a number of reasons for the wide discrepancies in exclusion numbers between schools.

Iryna Pona, policy and impact manager for the organisation, said: "Behavioural issues that could lead to exclusion, are often an indicator of larger issues children are experiencing, such as unmet special educational needs, bullying, abuse or exploitation.

“Some schools may have more children that require additional support, some may lack resources or awareness and training so they don’t know how to support the child and tackle any issues before resorting to excluding.

“Whatever the reason, the numbers show that there is the lack of consistent child centred approach that allows for the needs of the child to be understood and supported across all schools in the same way that would reduce the number of exclusions."

She also called for stronger government guidance that requires schools to work with partners in social care and the community to ensure greater oversight of exclusion decisions.