‘Internal exclusion’ of England secondary school students almost triples in three years
Internal Exclusion of England Secondary Students Triples
Wanderstayfinder.com – A disciplinary practice once confined to a small minority of classrooms has now reached nearly one in eight pupils across the country. New data compiled through Arbor, a management-information platform used by approximately 13,000 schools, shows that the internal exclusion of England secondary school students rose from 5% in the 2022/23 academic year to 13% in 2025/26 — a 160% increase over three consecutive school years. The figures mark a sharp departure from the trajectory most educators and policymakers had projected.
Disparity by Pupil Background
The aggregate rise conceals a starker divide along lines of economic need. Among pupils eligible for free school meals or otherwise flagged as disadvantaged, more than one in five (22%) was pulled from lessons at least once during 2025/26. Three years earlier that proportion sat at 8%, meaning the surge among this group reached 175%. For pupils outside the disadvantaged category, the comparable rate was one in ten (10%).
Pupils holding an education, health and care plan — the formal designation for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) — were removed at an 18% rate in the most recent year measured. Together these patterns indicate that the practice is not distributed evenly across the student body.
At primary level the phenomenon remains marginal. Fewer than 1% of under-11s experienced at least one removal in a given year; in 2025/26 the recorded count approached 5,000 children. Analysts stress, however, that Arbor does not yet capture every primary school, so the true figure is almost certainly higher.
How the Practice Works and Why It Escapes Official Statistics
Unlike a fixed-term suspension or a permanent exclusion — both of which send a pupil home — the measure in question keeps the child on school premises. The student is separated from the main classroom and placed in a designated space that varies from one institution to another and is sometimes labelled colloquially as an "isolation room." At the close of the period, the pupil is expected to rejoin their regular class.
The practice occupies a grey zone in English education policy. The Department for Education gathers and publishes statistics on formal suspensions and permanent exclusions but collects no equivalent data on classroom removals of this kind. The resulting gap means the government lacks a complete picture of how many children are being separated from normal lessons, for what duration, and under what conditions.
James Weatherill, CEO and co-founder of Arbor, framed the findings as a prompt for closer scrutiny rather than a blanket condemnation.
"Schools clearly need effective ways to respond when behaviour disrupts learning, and we know from schools that this measure can be an important alternative to sending a pupil home. But the scale of this increase, particularly among disadvantaged pupils, should prompt us to look more closely at what is driving it."
Weatherill added that the surge coincides with a decline in formal suspensions and exclusions as recorded in official DfE statistics, while cautioning against assuming one practice is simply substituting for the other.
"We cannot tell from these figures whether one is replacing the other, but the divergence underlines why government needs a more complete picture of how many pupils are being removed from their normal lessons, for how long, and with what consequences."
Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, defended the approach as a measured response deployed only after other avenues have been exhausted.
"These measures are never used lightly. They are a step short of an external exclusion and are designed to keep the student in school with appropriate learning support."
Lily Wielar, a researcher at the Education Policy Institute, described classroom removal as now deeply embedded in secondary-school behaviour management and called for greater transparency and legal parity for affected pupils.
"Classroom removal has become a deeply embedded feature of behaviour management in England's secondary schools. We urgently need to know more about how it is being used, and to ensure that removed pupils have the same legal protections and transparency that apply elsewhere."
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is internal exclusion in a secondary school? It is a short-term separation of a pupil from the main classroom while the child remains on school premises. The student is typically placed in a designated room and expected to return to their regular class once the period ends. It differs from a suspension or permanent exclusion, which send the pupil home.
Why doesn't the Department for Education track this practice? The DfE's statutory data-collection framework covers formal suspensions and permanent exclusions but has no equivalent category for on-site classroom removals. As a result, official statistics do not capture the scale, duration, or conditions of the practice.
Which pupils are most affected? The data show disproportionately high rates among disadvantaged pupils (22% in 2025/26) and pupils with SEND holding an education, health and care plan (18%). Non-disadvantaged pupils were removed at a 10% rate.
Where does the data come from? The figures are drawn from Arbor, a school-management information system deployed across roughly 13,000 schools in England. Primary-school coverage remains incomplete, so under-11 figures are likely undercounts.