Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide the number and rate of suspensions and permanent exclusions, disaggregated by school type (state-funded primary, state-funded secondary and state-funded special) for (a) 'Gypsy/Roma' pupils, (b) 'Traveller of Irish heritage' pupils and (c) all pupils in (i) the 2023/24 academic year and (ii) the 2024/25 academic year.

Statistics on suspensions and permanent exclusions by school type and ethnicity can be found in the following publication, published on 9 July: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/suspensions-and-permanent-exclusions-in-england/2024-25.

The publication has a “Create table” function. The table at this link has been produced using this function, showing the number and rates of suspensions and permanent exclusions by school type for pupils of Gypsy/Roma, Traveller of Irish heritage and all pupils, broken down by phase, for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. This information can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/219fd1f5-a660-4517-8caa-08df25240285

Caution is recommended when interpreting the data for Gypsy/Roma and Traveller of Irish Heritage children due to small population sizes.