Education Outcomes for Looked After Children 2024/25

School exclusions

This section presents data on the number and rates of exclusions of the estimated 412 pupils who were looked after within the year at publicly funded local authority schools, and who experienced an exclusion.

Headline findings

• Exclusion rates for pupils looked after within the year have decreased in 2024/25, from 97 exclusion per 1,000 pupils in 2022/23 to 77 exclusions per 1,000 pupils in 2024/25.

• Children in local authority homes, in voluntary homes and at home with parents had a higher rate of exclusion than those looked after in foster care, with friends or relatives, in other community accommodation, or residential placements.

• The exclusion rate for looked after pupils was around five times the rate for all pupils in 2024/25. However, the gap in rate of exclusion cases for looked after pupils and all pupils has seen a substantial decrease from 352 per 1,000 pupils in 2009/10 to 62 per 1,000 pupils in 2024/25.

• Pupils who were looked after within the year with 2 or 3 or more placements had a higher rate of exclusion than those with one placement. There were 73 cases of exclusions per 1,000 pupils for pupils with only one placement, increasing to 114 for pupils with two placements and 88 for pupils with three or more placements.

Cases of exclusion

There were 709 cases of exclusion in 2024/25 for pupils looked after within the year. The number of cases of exclusion was around twice as high for males, with an exclusion rate of 98 per 1,000 looked after pupils, compared to females who had an exclusion rate of 55 per 1,000 looked after pupils (Table 5). 

Table 5: Cases and exclusion rate per 1,000 pupils by sex

Cases and exclusions per 1,000 pupils by sex for pupils looked after within the year, 2024/25.

Rate of exclusions per 1,000 pupils

Table 6 shows the number of exclusions per 1,000 pupils by stage. As pupils can be excluded more than once per year, a single child may be counted more than once in these figures. The rate of exclusions among pupils looked after within the year was 77 per 1,000 pupils in 2024/25. This is around five times as high as the rate of 15 per 1,000 pupils for all pupils.

In 2024/25, the exclusion rate for pupils looked after in the last year was lower for those in primary school, at 32 per 1,000, compared with 116 per 1,000 pupils for those in secondary school and 96 per 1,000 for those attending a special school.

Table 6: Number of exclusions per 1,000 pupils by stage and sector

Number of exclusions per 1,000 pupils by stage and sector for looked after pupils and all pupils, 2024/25 [Note 1].

[Note 1] All pupils data taken from School exclusions statistics.

The rate of exclusion cases for pupils looked after in the last year decreased from 97 per 1,000 pupils in 2022/23 to 77 per 1,000 pupils in 2024/25. This follows an increase in 2022/23 after a decade long trend in reduction of the rate of exclusion cases for looked after pupils (Chart 2). It is likely that some of the decrease in exclusions between 2018/19 and 2020/21 was due to the pandemic limiting the time pupils were in school.

This decrease in rate of exclusion cases was seen in secondary and special schools for looked after pupils and all pupils. However, the rate of exclusions for primary school pupils who were looked after in the last year increased, with the rate for all pupils remaining the same as the previous year. The gap in rate of exclusion cases for looked after pupils and all pupils has seen a substantial decrease from 352 per 1,000 pupils in 2009/10 to 62 per 1,000 pupils in 2024/25, the lowest recorded gap.

Chart 2: Number of exclusions per 1,000 pupils, 2009/10 - 2024/25

Number of exclusions per 1,000 pupils for looked after pupils and all pupils, 2009/10 to 2024/25.

Number of pupils excluded

Table 7 presents data on the number of individual children excluded. The number of pupils excluded per 1,000 pupils is lower than the number of exclusions per 1,000 pupils.

In 2024/25, the rate of pupils excluded was 45 per 1,000 pupils for children looked after within the year. This is three times as high as the rate of 15 per 1,000 pupils for all pupils. Since the exclusion case rate for pupils looked after within the year is almost five times as high as for all pupils (see above), we can conclude that pupils looked after within the year who are excluded are more likely to be excluded multiple times than all pupils who are excluded.

Table 7: Number and rate of pupils excluded per 1,000 pupils by sector 2009/10 - 2024/25

Number and rate of pupils excluded per 1,000 pupils by sector for looked after pupils and all pupils, 2009/10 to 2024/25 [Note 1].

[Note 1] All pupils data taken from School exclusions statistics.

Placement type and number of placements

As with attendance rate, there is a similar disparity in rates of exclusion cases according to the type of accommodation in which pupils looked after within the year are placed. Children in local authority homes, in voluntary homes and at home with parents tends to have a higher rate of exclusion than those looked after in foster care, with friends or relatives, in other community accommodation, or residential placements (Table 8).

Table 8: Cases of exclusions per 1,000 pupils for looked after pupils, by acommodation type

Number of total exclusions and exclusion rate per 1,000 pupils by accommodation type for those who were looked after in the last year and all pupils, 2024/25 [Note 1], [Note 2].

[Note 1] Includes 'with prospective adopters'.

[Note 2] Includes 'in residential school', 'in secure accommodation' and 'in crisis care'.

Pupils who were looked after within the year with 2 or 3 or more placements had a higher rate of exclusion (Table 9). There were 73 cases of exclusions per 1,000 pupils for pupils with only one placement, increasing to 114 for pupils with two placements and 88 for pupils with three or more placements.

Table 9: Cases of exclusions per 1,000 pupils for pupils by number of placements within the year

Cases of exclusions per 1,000 pupils by number of placements for pupils looked after within the year, 2024/25.

Length of exclusions

Of the 709 cases of exclusion for looked after pupils in 2024/25, 86.7% had a duration of 1 to 3 days compared to 90.4% of all pupils (Table 10). 13.3% of cases of exclusion lasted more than 3 days compared to 9.6% of all pupils.

Table 10: Length of exclusions for looked after pupils and all pupils, 2024/25.

Number and percentage of cases of exclusion for looked after pupils and all pupils by length of exclusion, 2024/25.