Responding to today’s school exclusions statistics, Dan Lilley, Head of Youth at the Centre for Social Justice, said:
School exclusion levels hit a new Spring term high, driven by a behaviour crisis in schools that is depriving children of a safe, orderly learning environment.
The current system is letting down everyone: the teachers who are fearful of coming into work, the pupils desperate for an education free from disruption, and the children who are excluded when earlier interventions would have put them on the right path.
Exclusion is an important protection for teachers and other pupils’ education, but the Government must now get a grip of the mayhem going on in our classrooms. We need an urgent review of behaviour standards in schools to reset the relationship between schools and parents, and swift action on SEND reform.
Notes to editors
A CSJ spokesperson is available for interview.
- The CSJ’s latest School Exclusions Tracker will be published here on Sunday 3 May. A CSJ spokesperson is available for interview.
- Department for Education figures published this morning showed that the number of pupils permanently excluded in Spring 2025 was 3,320, up 7 per cent from the previous spring term.
- This is a rise of 21 per cent in the number of exclusions since Spring 2019, the last Spring term before the pandemic.
- Permanent exclusions for physical assault against teachers has increased from 339 in Spring 2022 to 549 in Spring 2025 – a 62 per cent rise.
- An April 2025 NASUWT survey found that 81 per cent of teachers believe the number of pupils exhibiting violent and abusive behaviours has increased.
- Data from the DfE’s latest National Behaviour Survey revealed that less than half of secondary school pupils said they felt safe at school ‘every day’ in the past week in May 2025.