Kids in need kicked out of school and labelled 'trouble-makers', grim report warns

Children with special educational needs are being suspended and excluded from school and labelled “trouble-makers” instead of getting the support they need, a report has warned.

Racial justice charity the Runnymede Trust found “an alarming pattern” of under-diagnosis of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) among pupils from minority ethnic groups, particularly Black boys.

Black children, children with SEND and kids on free school mealsare overrepresented in school suspensions and exclusions. Researchers warned vulnerable pupils were often being excluded to “protect exam results”.

“Rather than addressing underlying causes – such as unmet SEND needs, racial bias or safeguarding shortcomings – schools often resorted to punitive measures,” the report found.

There werearound 955,000 suspensions in the 2023/24 academic year - a 21% increase from the previous year - and the highest level since 20026. Nearly 11,000 of these were permanent exclusions.

READ MORE: Major changes to 'breaking point' SEND system demanded by MPs

According to official data, kids with an identified need were more than three times more likely to be suspended in the academic year of 2023/24. And students who are eligible for free school meals were more than four times as likely than their peers.

White British pupils had an average suspension rate of 13.69 per 100 pupils while Black Caribbean and Mixed White and Black Caribbean pupils had rates of 15.63 and 20.63 respectively. Traveller of Irish Heritage and Gypsy/Roma children had the highest rates.

The report cited racial bias and stereotypes playing a part in Black boys being disproportionately excluded. Black parents told the Runnymede Trust worrying stories of their children being excluded for minor issues, including bringing a small water pistol to school, and then sometimes being out of education for months.

Kiyana, whose 15-year-old son Andre was suspended over a water gun, said she was sent a letter from the school claiming the toy “resembled a firearm”.

“The way they wrote that letter, it sounded like my son brought a real weapon into school,” she told researchers. “They made it sound like he was dangerous. That’s what upset me the most.”

Another mum, Sophia, said her 12-year-old son Ethan, who has ADHD, was repeatedly removed from class and isolated. “Every single day, they were removing him from class,” she said. “I begged them – let’s work together to support him. But they ignored me.”

The report warns that school exclusions “criminalise and traumatise” children, leaving “lasting scars” on them and their families.

Almost three-quarters (72.2%) of people who receive a prison sentence have been suspended from school, previous ONS research has found. And more than three-quarters (79.8%) had been identified with SEND at some point during their schooling.

Dr Shabna Begum, chief executive of the Runnymede Trust, said: “Having been a teacher for over 20 years, I know the devastating impact exclusions have on a child’s future.

“Schools are increasingly incentivised not to treat children as whole people but are instead driven by a results culture that intertwines with racist ideas about ability and need. We cannot continue this culture of exclusion to bolster ‘results’ - schools exist to nurture and support children and young people - that must include all students. The racialised exclusion culture is harmful to us all.”

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is drawing up plans to overhaul the crisis-hit SEND system in a white paper this autumn. MPs last week said teachers should be better trained in special educational needsand national standards should be introduced to fix a system at “breaking point”.

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