If a school unfairly excludes a pupil with a disability, this could be disability discrimination.

A school might discriminate against a disabled child if it was aware of the child’s disability, and the exclusion was because the child is disabled or because of something which happened because of their disability. This could be because of a school policy which is discriminatory towards pupils with disabilities. A non-disabled pupil could be discriminated against if the school follows a policy which unfairly disadvantages them in the same way as it disadvantages disabled pupils too.

A school’s behaviour policy must be in accordance with the setting’s duties under the Equality Act 2010. However, the school may be able to argue that there was a legitimate reason for the exclusion such as health and safety.

Check whether the school has made reasonable adjustments to accommodate the child’s disability too (for children with special educational needs (SEN) mainstream schools should also be providing SEN Support – see chapter 6 of the SEN and Disability Code of Practice).

If you think the school may have discriminated against your child, see our section on disability discrimination.

If you haven’t been able to find the answer to your question on this page, see our FAQs.