Education

‘Worrying’ increase in children being excluded from Nottingham schools

By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter

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The number of Nottingham children being excluded from schools is almost double the national average – and is rising so fast alternative education spaces for them are running out.

Nottingham City Council says its rates of permanent exclusions have “historically been high” and have risen every year since 2020.

The problem is now seen as so “worrying” at the authority that a meeting is planned next month between the Government, the education watchdog Ofsted, schools, and the council.

In the previous academic year more than 200 pupils in the city needed what is known as Alternative Provision (AP) – meaning they cannot be educated in mainstream schools because they have been excluded.

Places for permanently excluded children have been increased across two schools that offer alternative education – the Denewood and Unity academies – from 152 to 280 this academic year.

However the authority says numbers on roll “already exceed these figures”.

Jennifer Hardy, programme manager for education, and Jasmin Howell, head of virtual schools, wrote a report which says the problem has become ‘worrying’.

It was discussed at a Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee meeting on Wednesday (March 12).

“This continued challenge is now putting pressure on the high needs block of the dedicated schools grant, which is the funding provided to local authorities by the government to support children with additional needs,” they said.

“The high needs budget was overspent in the 2023/24 financial year for the first time and is predicted to go in to deficit in the next few years if the amount of money spent on permanently excluded children isn’t reduced.”

According to the report, Nottingham’s permanent exclusion numbers are almost double the national average – and are growing.

Government figures show that, for every 10,000 pupils in Nottingham, 20 pupils were permanently excluded in the 2022/23 academic year.

The national average is 11 for every 10,000 pupils.

The council says it is running a pilot project from March to July giving schools a place to get support and services from specialist teams to combat the problem.

Two further pilot projects, including a Government-funded scheme to help children with additional needs move from primary to secondary school, and a monitoring programme, were also a success, it says.

In total 60 children took part in the mentoring programme at secondary schools in the 2023/24 year, and only four children went on to be excluded.

While a bid for funding to keep the programme running was turned down, three mentors are continuing to work with the council, with two of them now forming part of the authority’s main behaviour support team.

Secondary schools are further being given a portion of £3.4m in funding to help keep children in schools, while extra special educational needs places are being created to better help those with additional needs.

The council says it has held a meeting with the regional director of Ofsted – as the education watchdog – to discuss the high level of exclusions in the city.

Following the meeting it was agreed a meeting involving Ofsted, the Department for Education, the council, and all city academies, would take place in April this year “to explore issues and consider potential solutions”.