Students will no longer be sent home if they misbehave at school under plans released by the Government
Instead they’ll be kept in ‘internal suspension’ where they’ll still get an education and be consistently monitored by teachers.
The Government say the changes are designed to strengthen discipline while ensuring pupils continue learning during short-term suspensions, particularly for non-violent behaviour.
The measures argue that being sent home can mean unrestricted access to phones, online gaming and social networks.
Under the proposals pupils could sometimes be set “generic work that does not support learning or reintegration” when they were internally suspended, and it would make clear that “internal suspension is a short, structured intervention with meaningful learning and time for reflection”.
Suspensions have accelerated since the Covid lockdowns, the number of suspensions increased by 21% between 2022-23 and 2023-24 – from 787,000 to 955,000.
Over the same period, the rate of suspensions rose from 9.33 per 100 pupils in 2022-23 to 11.31 in 2023-24. The largest percentage rise was in primary schools.
