Children with school-identified special educational needs (SEN) are five times more likely to be permanently excluded from school than their peers without SEN, new analysis has found.
The report from the Institute for Public Policy Research and The Difference found that suspensions and exclusions have increased by over 20% in 2023/24 with children losing out on 32 million days of school learning last year due to a combination of unauthorised absence and exclusions.
Children from low-income backgrounds, with special educational needs, and those with mental health issues are the most likely to miss learning.
In addition, those with mental health needs so severe that it is classified as a SEN are 17 times more likely to be educated in alternative provision schools serving excluded pupils, than they are to appear in the general population.
There has been a 56% rise in children leaving state-run provision for privately-run provision paid for by the state since the pandemic, with costs soaring up to £111,000 a year per child. This is double the cost of a placement in a state setting.
Efua Poku-Amanfo, IPPR research fellow, said: “Thousands of children across the country are losing out on learning – and it’s rising. The most vulnerable children are being let down and we’re concerned this will become an endemic problem for society as well as the potential damage it could do to the prospects for young people.
“Students from lower income backgrounds, with special educational needs and those with mental health issues are amongst the most likely to lose out on learning. Change is long overdue and it’s time to look towards building more effective policies solutions to fix this crisis of lost learning.”
New analysis in the report found that there is an estimated lifetime cost of £170,000 per child directly associated with permanent exclusion. For last year’s excluded cohort alone this means costs to the state of £1.6 billion over a lifetime.
A new Who’s Losing Learning Solutions Council will set out how the education sector should respond to this challenge. Between September 2024 and March 2025, the council will hear evidence from school leaders, parents and organisations working with children losing learning. It will identify promising work currently happening in pockets across the country and advise on how these ought to be translated into national policy solutions.
Kiran Gill, IPPR associate fellow and CEO of The Difference, said: “The past four years, post-pandemic, have seen an alarming rise in children losing learning. We should all be worried about the social injustice that the most marginalised children – who already have the biggest barriers to opportunity outside of school – are those most likely to be not in classrooms through absence, suspension and exclusion.
“Over the next six months, the Who’s Losing Learning Coalition will be hearing evidence on how mainstream schools can evolve to better serve the needs of all children – especially those struggling with their mental health. We know that many teachers and school leaders are stepping towards this challenge, and innovating in their classrooms and communities. But too often they are doing this against the tide of the incentives around them, without the professional development and practice sharing they most need or at a remove from the services they need most to collaborate with.”
The report comes as Richard Burgon, Independent MP for Leeds East, led a packed debate in Parliament on the crisis in provision for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
He said that said the process for seeking special-needs support amounted to “child neglect” and there was a funding “emergency”.
Schools Minister Catherine McKinnell said at the debate that the Labour government wanted to increase “inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools” and improve early identification of special needs but there are no quick fixes to problems faced by families with children with SEND.
She added that the Government was determined to reform the special-needs system.
