Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of children with special needs being excluded from school, the implications for their education, and the risk of such children being vulnerable to involvement in anti-social behaviour as a result.

In 2016-17 there were 3,605 permanent exclusions and 171,580 fixed period exclusions for pupils with special educational needs (SEN). Pupils with identified SEN accounted for 46.7% of all permanent exclusions and 44.9% of fixed period exclusions.

In March, the government launched an externally led review of exclusions practice, led by Edward Timpson CBE. The review will consider how schools use exclusion and how this affects all pupils, but in particular why some groups of children, such as those with special needs, are more likely to be excluded from school. The government will respond to this review after it is published at the beginning of 2019.

The attached full terms of reference for the review can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusions-review-terms-of-reference.