BBC investigation into informal exclusions
A BBC investigation has found that a dozen schools in England, Northern Ireland and Wales have informally excluded pupils at some stage last year.
BBC News asked more than 1,000 secondary schools whether they informally excluded children last year, using Freedom of Information requests. The data revealed that six schools in England, five in Northern Ireland and one in Wales have admitted doing so.
One email obtained by BBC News from a school describes the lack of choice given to a parent asked to keep their child at home. The email advises their son take two days off “to calm down”, an act the school says “may avoid fixed-term exclusions at this stage”.
You can read more on these findings here.