(UK) Northamptonshire: HERE AGAIN-SPED students are excluded at higher rate

July 31, 2018, Northamptonshire Telegraph: Schools in Northamptonshire excluding more and more pupils https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/schools-in-northamptonshire-excluding-more-and-more-pupils-1-8585319 Schools in Northamptonshire are dishing out more and more exclusions to pupils, new data has revealed. On average 28 children were excluded from schools in the area on every school day last year. The revelation comes after a warning from MPs that parents and children are having to contend with a “scandal of ever-increasing exclusions” in a system that is like the “Wild West”. In the 2016-17 academic year, schools in Northamptonshire handed out at least 5,399 exclusions, according to data from the Department for Education. … The number of exclusions represents an increase of 14% from the previous year when 4,752 exclusions were recorded, and an increase of 52% from the level it was at five years ago. Although the school population has been increasing at the same time, the rate at which exclusions have increased is higher than the rate of population growth. … The majority of the exclusions in 2016-17 - 3,885 of them - were in secondary schools, with 1,211 in primary schools and 302 in special schools, which cater for pupils with special education needs or disabilities. However, when the size of the schools’ populations are taken into account, it was special schools that gave out the most exclusions, with a rate of 19.2 exclusions per 100 pupils. This compared to a rate of 8.4 in secondary schools and 1.8 in primary schools. The most common reason for a child to be excluded from a school in Northamptonshire was for persistent disruptive behaviour, which accounted for 23% of exclusions. In England, exclusions numbered around 389,600 in 2016-17, up from 346,000 the previous year. … The MPs also criticised a “lack of moral accountability” among many schools which have little incentive to keep on students that are seen as “difficult or challenging”. …