Your Guide to Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions

A suspension or exclusion means that a school has decided that you are no longer allowed to attend that school. This is either for a number of days or permanently.  This may be because of a series of incidents or from one very serious incident that is against the school’s rules.  

Schools are only supposed to exclude pupils as a last resort and it should be because of a very serious concern about your behaviour. This means it must not be about whether you have learning difficulties or how academic you are. It’s also illegal to discriminate against a student because of things like their sex or religion.

There are two types of exclusion – suspension and permanent

What is a suspension?

You can be excluded for a specific number of school days and this is called a suspension.

What is a permanent exclusion?

A permanent exclusion is where you are told you cannot come back to school.  

What is an independent review panel?

You can ask for an independent review panel to check that the decision to exclude you was fair.