Department for Education issues regulations for revised regime on school exclusion appeals

The Department for Education has issued regulations for the revised school exclusions regime under which pupils will no longer be able to win the right to come back against the headteacher’s wishes.

The new rules, which will come into force in September 2011, apply to maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units.

The revamped system will give headteachers the power to exclude a child “as long as the decision is legal, reasonable and fair”, the DfE said.

The new breed of independent review panels will be able to require schools to revisit the decision but only in circumstances where the school has acted illegally, irrationally or in a procedurally flawed manner. But they will not be able to require the school to take back the child.

Governing bodies will determine whether an excluded pupil should be reinstated. This will involve reviewing the decision of the headteacher and considering the outcome of the independent review panel hearing.

Other features of the new regime include:

• Where schools stand by their decision to exclude despite a direction by the review panel to reconsider, they will have to pay £4,000 towards the cost of alternative provision for the excluded child;
• Where requested by a parent, an expert in special educational needs will be appointed by the local authority or academy trust to advise the independent review panels;
• Where a parent alleges discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 in relation to a fixed period or permanent exclusion, they will also be able to make a claim to the First-tier Tribunal (for disability discrimination) or a County Court (for other forms of discrimination).

Statutory guidance on the use by headteachers of their new powers will be issued.

Under the current system, independent appeals panels can force schools to re-admit excluded pupils.

“This can lead to a disruptive child continuing to damage their own education as well as that of others – as well as undermining the headteacher’s authority,” the DfE claimed.

According to the Department, there were 5,740 permanent exclusions and 331,380 fixed period exclusions in England in 2009/10.

During the year 510 appeals against permanent exclusions were heard. More than one in five (110) were determined in favour of the parent, and in 30 cases reinstatement of the pupil was directed.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: “Restoring the authority of teachers and headteachers is an important part of the objective of raising standards of behaviour in schools. When head teachers decide that they have no choice but to expel a persistently disruptive or uncooperative pupil that decision must not be undermined by an appeal process which can result in the pupil returning to the school against the wishes of the school and its leadership.

“These new rules preserve the right to have a decision to expel a child reviewed by an independent panel but take away the power to force the return of the pupil to the school. The new independent review panels will provide a fair and accessible process for considering exclusion decisions in a way that takes account of the impact that poor behaviour can have on the education and welfare of other pupils.”

The Department is trialling a new approach with local authorities and around 300 secondary schools under which schools retain responsibility for permanently excluded pupils and work in partnership to secure better outcomes for pupils at risk of exclusion.

The new regulations can be viewed on the DfE website. The Department said guidance for those with legal responsibilities would be published shortly.

Philip Hoult