Exclusion

What is exclusion?

In education/school terms exclusion is where a young person is removed from school by its head teacher on disciplinary grounds, however there are two types of exclusion. The first is known as “Fixed Term Exclusion”, and these are for short periods of time, with a limit of 45 days in any school year (by law). The second is known as “Permanent Exclusion”, and as it sounds is expulsion with the young person only able to return to school if they are “re-instated”.

What can a young person be excluded from school for?

Head teachers can use their discretion as to when a young person should be excluded, but they do have guidelines, especially on extreme serious situations where young people should be excluded for one-off offences including, but not limited to:

• Serious, actual or threatened violence against another pupil or a member of staff
• Sexual abuse or assault 
• Supplying an illegal drug 
• Carrying an offensive weapon