Schools should kick out fewer pupils, warns Education Secretary

Schools should kick out fewer pupils as it should only happen ‘as a last resort’, Education Secretary Damian Hinds has said.

Mr Hinds said he hopes to see fewer children ejected over the next few years as he announced new measures to clamp down on unnecessary exclusions.

A government-commissioned review published today has found some schools are excluding a disproportionately high number of pupils.

It is feared some heads are too ready to get rid of children if their low academic achievement is bringing down their school’s league table position.

Mr Hinds wants to make schools ‘accountable’ for the pupils they exclude, with their GCSE results counting towards overall school performance even after they have left.

This would remove the incentive for schools to eject the children with the worst grades, under the pretence they have been unruly.

However, Mr Hinds stressed that heads must retain the right to exclude violent or deeply disruptive children when they are threatening the safety and learning of their classmates.

The review, conducted by former children’s minister Edward Timpson, makes 30 recommendations to ensure exclusions are ‘used appropriately’.

Asked yesterday how he would measure the effectiveness of the changes, Mr Hinds said: ‘I’d like to see the level of exclusions come down.

‘The level of exclusions is lower than it was 10 years ago. But I’d like to see the level of exclusions come down because it is better that children are not being excluded.’

He added that he would also be ‘watchful’ of the attainment of children who have been excluded and are continuing their schooling in ‘alternative provision’ centres.

The review was commissioned after it emerged a large number of pupils are disappearing from school registers before they take their GCSEs.

Some were formally excluded, while others were removed with no reason given - often to be home schooled.

Critics say many of these children may have been illegally ‘off-rolled’, with schools persuading parents to home-school them

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