Blackpool school exclusion rates: these are the schools where pupils are excluded most often last year

The Children's Society has called for stronger government guidance on the issue, after data revealed the "huge differences" in the rate of exclusions in schools across England.

Department for Education figures show there were a total of 1,277 permanent or temporary exclusions across the 43 state schools in Blackpool in the 2020-21 academic year.

This works out at a rate of 6.6 exclusions for every 100 pupils – well above the average of 4.3 across England.

And of the 41 schools in the area with at least 100 pupils, this rate was highest at South Shore Academy – a state-funded secondary school.

The secondary sponsor led academy ordered no permanent exclusions but carried out 252 temporary exclusions – a rate of 33.6 per 100 pupils.

At the other end of the scale, 11 schools in the area did not exclude a single pupil.

Around 37% of schools across England did not suspend or permanently exclude any students in 2020-21, while almost a dozen issued more exclusions than they have pupils.

Is there a reason for the wide differences?

The Children’s Society said there may be a number of reasons for the wide discrepancies in exclusion numbers between schools.

Iryna Pona, policy and impact manager for the Children’s Society, said: "Behavioural issues that could lead to exclusion, are often an indicator of larger issues children are experiencing, such as unmet special educational needs, bullying, abuse or exploitation.

“Some schools may have more children that require additional support, some may lack resources or awareness and training so they don’t know how to support the child and tackle any issues before resorting to excluding.

“Whatever the reason, the numbers show that there is the lack of consistent child centred approach that allows for the needs of the child to be understood and supported across all schools in the same way that would reduce the number of exclusions."

She also called for stronger government guidance that requires schools to work with partners in social care and the community to ensure greater oversight of exclusion decisions.

The schools with the highest exclusion rates in Blackpool in 2020-21 were:

South Shore Academy – state-funded secondary – 33.6 exclusions per 100 pupils

Unity Academy Blackpool – state-funded secondary – 24.6

Montgomery Academy – state-funded secondary – 24.2

Blackpool Aspire Academy – state-funded secondary – 21.5

Armfield Academy – state-funded secondary – 12.7

What the schools said:

South Shore Academy was approached for a comment.

Dean Logan CEO of FCAT (the Fylde Coast Academy Trust), which oversees the Unity, Montgomery, Aspire and Armfield academies, said: “We are acutely aware that the rates of pupil suspensions in Blackpool are high.

"We also agree with Iryna Pona of the Children’s Society that there are often a range of factors that result in the behaviours that lead to suspension.

“We recognise that to constantly develop and grow our understanding of the individual circumstances faced by the children in our schools will continue to improve the way we develop our approaches to supporting children and reducing the number of suspensions that take place.

"An area of development that we are very keen to pursue is a trauma informed approach, which provides pupils with support and helps with self-regulation of behaviour and in turn reduces the number of suspensions further.”

The Department for Education said it supports headteachers to choose how and when to use suspensions to maintain a calm, safe, and supportive environment.

A spokeswoman added: "We are clear that permanent exclusion should only be used when absolutely necessary, as a last resort and this should not mean exclusion from education.

“Our updated statutory guidance, coming into force this academic year, sets out how and when to use suspensions in particular circumstances as a behaviour tool, and supports decisions to exclude when required.”