Internal suspensions: have your say on the proposed reforms

DfE launches call for evidence on use of internal suspensions for behavioural reasons.

The Department for Education (DfE) has launched a call for evidence seeking views from practitioners, researchers and other stakeholders on reforms to the use of internal suspensions in schools for behavioural reasons. The call closes on 19 November and will inform the development of the reforms outlined in the white paper ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’, published in February this year.

The white paper seeks to introduce reforms to the school exclusion system, including addressing the use of internal suspensions which are not currently governed by the statutory guidance. While not expressly defined in legislation, a Government Education Hub blog post from January describes internal suspensions as ‘when a pupil is removed from their usual classroom for a short period but remains in school’ instead of being sent home or off-site.  A distinction is made between internal suspension which should provide a time-limited, supportive structure for the child’s continued learning away from the classroom, and isolation where the child is placed alone with very limited interaction and which is discouraged by the DfE. 

Existing statutory guidance on exclusions and suspensions from school set out who has the power to exclude a pupil from school and how and when these measures should be used. By comparison, there is no statutory framework for the use of internal suspensions, including who may authorise them, when they are appropriate, how they should be structured and how they fit within the existing framework of external exclusions and suspensions.

This has resulted in substantial variation in how internal suspensions are used across schools, as highlighted by an analysis published by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) in May this year. The EPI examined classroom removal using data from secondary schools in the three London boroughs of Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Lewisham. It found that, while internal suspensions were widely used, there were considerable differences in how the measure was applied.  Although some variation in behaviour management practice is expected to reflect each school’s needs, the EPI found that the breadth of variation raised questions about consistency and suggested that schools were using internal suspensions for different purposes. The EPI’s analysis of internal exclusion provides further detail on its findings.

The reforms proposed in the white paper seek to address concerns such as those raised by the EPI’s analysis by establishing a national framework with clear guidance on when internal suspensions are appropriate and how they should be structured. This framework will sit within the existing system of external exclusions and suspensions. However, the DfE has made clear that serious or violent behaviour should still result in pupils being removed from the school environment where appropriate.

The DfE’s call for evidence gives academy trusts, schools and other stakeholders an opportunity to share their views on internal suspensions, alongside two aspects of the statutory suspension framework: the process of reintegration following a suspension and the provision of schoolwork during the first five days of suspension and permanent exclusion.

Academy trusts and schools are encouraged to provide their evidence-based submissions on existing practice, implementation challenges and examples of what works well when it comes to the use of internal suspension.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this article further, please contact our Education team on 0113 244 6100.

You can also keep up to date by following Wrigleys Solicitors on LinkedIn.

The information in this article is necessarily of a general nature. The law stated is correct at the date (stated above) this article was first posted to our website.

Specific advice should be sought for specific situations. If you have any queries or need any legal advice, please feel free to contact Wrigleys Solicitors.