Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what procedures are in place to enable the reporting of unlawful exclusions from state-funded schools.

A pupil can only lawfully be deleted from the admission register in accordance with the grounds prescribed in legislation. These are set out in Regulation 8 of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 as amended, which includes where a child has been permanently excluded. Where the name of a pupil is to be deleted from the admission register, the school must inform their local authority of the deletion.

As part of their legal duties in relation to exclusion, schools must have regard to the statutory guidance issued by the Department.

Parents approaching the Department with concerns about an unlawful exclusion or removal from the admission register are informed about the formal routes of challenge available to them and directed to sources of free and impartial advice. If the Department identified that a governing body had acted unlawfully or unreasonably in carrying out its legal duties in relation to exclusion, and it would be expedient to so, then the Secretary of State could issue a direction. The Department would also pass to Ofsted any relevant evidence that fell within the inspectorate’s remit.