Disparities in rates of permanent exclusion from school across the UK

There are very large disparities in rates of permanent exclusion from school across the four nations within the UK.

98% of all children permanently excluded in the UK in 2014/15 were from schools in England. Past research has shown that permanent disciplinary exclusion has many negative long term consequences for all aspects of young people’s lives. However, little is known about the reasons why the four nations differ so greatly in their official accounts of practices of exclusion or whether there are informal practices which are associated with these disparities.

This interdisciplinary project will examine understandings and accounts of practices of official permanent exclusion from schools as well as the informal means by which children and young people become excluded in the four constituent nations of the UK in order to understand the ways in which policy impacts on practices that have such a profound impact on young lives.

External project members include,  Jill Porter (University of Reading), Tony Gallagher (Queens University Belfast), Laura Lundy (Queens University Belfast), Sally Power (Cardiff University), Chris Taylor (Cardiff University), Gillean McCluskey (University of Edinburgh).

External group members: Jill Porter, Tony Gallagher, Laura Lundy, Sally Power, Chris Taylor, Gillean McCluskey