Disruptive, unacceptable behaviour. It happens in schools all over the UK. And one of the ways to tackle this is with exclusion…
Whilst many consider this a controversial way to deal with these behaviours, have you ever stopped to think whether it’s working? Are exclusion rates increasing or decreasing? And what are the main reasons for exclusion in the UK?
PlayLikeMum have taken a look at the most recent exclusion data and compared it against figures from a decade ago to see which local authorities have seen the biggest improvements: https://www.playlikemum.com/exclusion-zones/
Top 10 authorities with biggest exclusion decrease
| Local Authority | Total No. of Exclusions 2008-2009 | Total No. of Exclusions 2017-2018 | Difference | % Difference |
| South Tyneside | 1,493 | 604 | -889 | -59.54% |
| Rutland | 161 | 73 | -88 | -54.66% |
| Thurrock | 1,417 | 647 | -770 | -54.34% |
| Slough | 2,091 | 984 | -1,107 | -52.94% |
| Bedfordshire | 2,316 | 1,101 | -1,215 | -52.46% |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | 3,721 | 2,062 | -1,659 | -44.58% |
| Kingston upon Thames | 1,153 | 643 | -510 | -44.23% |
| Harrow | 1,615 | 1,008 | -607 | -37.59% |
| Southampton | 7,628 | 4,808 | -2,820 | -36.97% |
| Westminster | 894 | 564 | -330 | -36.91% |
To see the 20 local authorities where behaviour has increased the most, simply click here.
On the opposite end, the local authorities that have seen increases in exclusions include Hartlepool with a huge 1755.13% increase and then Barnsley with a 507.43% increase.
Top 10 most common reasons for exclusion
| REASON | 2008-2009 Total | 2017-2018 Total | |
| 1 | Persistent disruptive behaviour | 72,387 | 125,147 |
| 2 | Other | 58,883 | 84,081 |
| 3 | Physical assault against a pupil | 57,648 | 67,833 |
| 4 | Verbal abuse/ threatening behaviour against an adult | 71,643 | 62,929 |
| 5 | Physical assault against an adult | 7,445 | 28,452 |
| 6 | Verbal abuse/ threatening behaviour against a pupil | 12,405 | 15,944 |
| 7 | Drug and alcohol related | 8,827 | 10,354 |
| 8 | Damage | 7,543 | 7,617 |
| 9 | Racist abuse | 3,581 | 4,296 |
| 10 | Theft | 7,334 | 4,273 |
