Number of pupil exclusions from schools rises to highest point in decade amid funding cuts

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Funding cuts to schools and children’s services have made it harder to provide early intervention and support those with challenging behaviour, headteachers’ unions said. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Exclusion rates have risen in recent years because of cuts to both education and local services which have made it more difficult to provide early intervention and support to children with challenging behaviour, and prevent that behaviour from escalating to the point of exclusion. “Schools do not take the decision to exclude lightly, and when they do so it is in the interests of other children and staff who have a right to learn and work in a safe and orderly environment.” He added: “Schools are working hard to avoid having to exclude pupils, but the government must do more to back them up with an improved level of funding for education and investment in local services which provide support to vulnerable families and children.” The rise in permanent exclusions in recent years follows a downward trend from 2006-07 until 2012-13. It is no coincidence that permanent exclusions have started to rise as budget cuts have started to bite.” In May, the government announced that headteachers would be accountable for the exam results of students they exclude under changes aimed at reducing the number of expulsions – a recommendation made in a report by former children’s minister Edward Timpson into the thousands of pupils disappearing from school registers.