The steps we explain on this page only relate to pupils at maintained schools, Academy schools (not 16-19 Academies or 16-19 free schools), alternative provision Academies, and pupil referral units. If your child attends a different setting, please see our information on exclusion from those different settings.

A permanent exclusion (sometimes the word “expulsion” or “expelled” is used) is where a pupil is told they cannot come back to the school. Remember, a school should only take this decision in response to a serious breach or persistent breaches of the school's behaviour policy and where allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil or others such as staff or pupils in the school.

There are a number of things the school must do when a pupil is permanently excluded.

1. Notification by the Head

The Head must tell:

• you as the parent (initially this should be by phone or in person) why your child has been excluded and for how long. This must be done without delay
• the local authority (LA) about the exclusion or suspension, again without delay
• the Governors, and
• if the pupil is a looked after child, the Head must tell the Virtual School Head and if the pupil has a social worker, the Head must tell the social worker about the exclusion/suspension – in both cases, without delay.

2. Written confirmation

Then the Head must write to you to confirm that your child has been excluded and why. This written confirmation must also explain that the Governors must consider whether to uphold the Head’s decision to exclude, you have right to tell them what you think about the exclusion (this is called making representations) and how to do this. The letter should tell you that you have the right to attend a meeting with the Governors and, if you wish, to be represented at that meeting and bring a friend. This information may be sent to you by email, but only if you agree to it.

3. Representations

You can set out why you believe your child should not have been excluded to the Head because they are able to cancel an exclusion before the governors meeting.

But the Head may not agree so you should put your views and comments on the exclusion in writing to the Governors.  The Governors  must  consider these representations (see our advice on preparing written representations). The Governors have to meet within 15 school days of the Head telling them about the exclusion (and may meet sooner if your child could otherwise miss an external or National Curriculum exam, so you should prepare your representations quickly so they can be considered in advance.

4. Education

School should take reasonable steps to set and mark work for the first five days of a period of a permanent exclusion.

If your child is of compulsory school age, then your LA (the area where your child lives) must arrange suitable, full-time education for them from the sixth day of a permanent exclusion. ‘Full-time’ means supervised education equivalent to that provided by a mainstream school, or special school (where relevant).

This provision must begin no later than the sixth day of the exclusion but it should try to start this provision as soon as possible. If the pupil is a looked after child, schools and local authorities should work together to arrange alternative provision from the first day following the exclusion.

You can find further advice on what you should do if your child is excluded, including ensuring alternative education is provided, online. You can also find more information on what your LA must do when securing alternative provision in government guidance.

5. Governor meeting

The Governors must meet within 15 days of receiving the notice of the exclusion to consider it. However, if the exclusion will mean your child will miss an external or National Curriculum exam they must take reasonable steps to meet before the exam.

The governors must ask for any written evidence, including relevant information the school has about your child’s SEN, in advance of the meeting. Where possible, they must circulate this and a list of who will be attending the meeting to everyone due to attend at least five school days before the meeting.

You have the right to attend this meeting. You can also have someone to represent you at the meeting (such as an advisor from the local Information Advice and Support Service or a solicitor) and can bring a friend. You can ask for this meeting to be held remotely and you should be told how to ask for this. If you are disabled you can ask the governors to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to attend and contribute at the meeting.

Following the Governor meeting, the governing body must tell you its decision (and the reasons for it) in writing and without delay.

The governing body will decide whether your child should be reinstated. This means it will look at the decision the Head made and decide whether the Head should have made it. It may decide not to reinstate your child – this means it considers the decision to permanently exclude your child was lawful, reasonable, and procedurally fair.

6. Independent Review Panel

If the governing body makes a decision not to reinstate a pupil and you as the parent or as the excluded pupil if aged 18 or over disagree, you can ask for this decision to be reviewed by an independent review panel (IRP).

You must ask for this within 15 school days of receiving the governing body’s decision to uphold the exclusion and not to reinstate.

The governing body’s letter should explain how to make this request and that you can have an SEN expert contribute to the review (see below).

The IRP meeting must start within 15 school days of your request.

An IRP cannot make a governing body reinstate an excluded pupil. However, where an IRP decides that a governing body’s decision is flawed (faulty), it can tell the governing body to reconsider its decision.

SEN expert

Whether or not the school recognises your child as having SEN, you can ask for an SEN expert to attend the IRP meeting and the local authority/academy trust must arrange and pay for one to attend.

The SEN expert’s role is to tell the review panel how SEN may be relevant in the context and circumstances of the review. They will act independently, so they will not be on either your or school’s side – they are there to help the panel understand if and how SEN may be relevant. For example, they can say whether the school followed its legal duties when excluding the pupil.

You can find further advice on what to do if your child is excluded on our website or by taking a look at our FAQs.