School attendance, absence and exclusions statistics 2024-25
Headline statistics on attendance, absence and exclusions in schools in Scotland.
Part of
Exclusions
Cases of exclusion
Cases of exclusion have fallen from 11,673 in 2022/23 to 10,647 in 2024/25, consistent with the overall downward trend since 2006/07 (Figure 7).
All of these exclusions were for a fixed period of time, referred to here as temporary exclusions, with pupils expected to return to their original school when the exclusion period was completed. No pupils were removed from the register in 2024/25, compared with one pupil in 2022/23. This is the first time there has been no pupils removed from the register since records began in 2002/03.Removed from the register is when a pupil does not return to their original school and will be educated at another school or in some other educational provision. Cases of exclusion refers to the number of incidences of exclusion, not the number of individual pupils excluded, as a pupil can be excluded multiple times.
The rate of exclusions per 1,000 pupils decreased from 16.6 in 2022/23 to 15.2 in 2024/25. This is consistent with the overall downward trend since 2006/07.
Cases of exclusion by pupil characteristics
Figure 8 shows that the exclusion rate per 1,000 pupils was two and a half times higher for male pupils (21.6 cases of exclusion per 1,000) than female pupils (8.5 cases of exclusion per 1,000). This is a similar pattern to 2022/23.
The rate of exclusion for pupils with an ASN was 28.9 exclusions per 1,000 pupils in 2024/25, almost five times the rate for pupils without an ASN (5.8 exclusions per 1,000 pupils). This is a similar pattern to 2022/23.
Rates of exclusion per 1,000 pupils were almost four times greater for pupils living in the 20% most deprived areas compared with pupils living in the 20% least deprived areas (23.9 exclusions per 1,000 pupils compared to 6.2). This is slightly higher than 2022/23, when the rate of exclusions per 1,000 pupils was 3.5 times greater for pupils living in the 20% most deprived areas compared with pupils living in the 20% least deprived areas.
Additional analysis of school exclusions at local authority-level and by other pupil characteristics, including stage, ethnic background, ASN reason for support, level of English and free school meal registration, is available in the exclusion 2024/25 tables. This includes additional data on number of pupils excluded.
Figure 7: Cases of exclusion have fallen since 2022/23, consistent with the overall downward trend since 2006/07.
Cases of exclusion and rate by type of exclusion, 2010/11 to 2024/25
|
Exclusion type |
2010/11 |
2012/13 |
2014/15 |
2016/17 [note 1] |
2018/19 |
2020/21 [note 2] |
2022/23 [note 2] |
2024/25 |
|
Total Exclusions |
26,844 |
21,955 |
18,430 |
18,381 |
14,990 |
8,319 |
11,673 |
10,647 |
|
Temporary exclusions |
26,784 |
21,934 |
18,425 |
18,376 |
14,987 |
8,318 |
11,672 |
10,647 |
|
Removed from register |
60 |
21 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Exclusion rate per 1,000 pupils |
40.0 |
32.8 |
27.2 |
26.8 |
21.6 |
11.9 |
16.6 |
15.2 |
|
Temporary exclusion rate |
39.9 |
32.7 |
27.2 |
26.8 |
21.6 |
11.9 |
16.6 |
15.2 |
|
Removed from register rate |
0.1 |
low |
low |
low |
low |
low |
low |
0.0 |
Note 1: The exclusions in the total and the removed from register figures for 2016/17 were updated in June 2018 to take into account 4 pupils removed from the register who were not included in the original analysis.
Note 2: The exclusions in the total figure and the temporary exclusions figure for 2020/21 and 2022/23 were revised in December 2025. See the background notes for further details.
Figure 8: Rates of exclusion are higher for male pupils than female pupils, for pupils with ASN than pupils with no ASN, and for more deprived pupils than less deprived pupils.
Cases of exclusion and rate per 1,000 pupils by sex, ASN [Note 1] and SIMD [Note 2], 2024/25
|
Pupil characteristic |
Cases of exclusions |
Rate per 1,000 pupils |
|
Male |
7,729 |
21.6 |
|
Female |
2,918 |
8.5 |
|
Pupils with ASN |
8,214 |
28.9 |
|
Pupils with no ASN |
2,401 |
5.8 |
|
Lowest 20% of SIMD (Most deprived) |
3,755 |
23.9 |
|
Highest 20% of SIMD (Least deprived) |
828 |
6.2 |
Note 1: Cases of exclusion for pupils that were not matched to the Pupil Census have not been included. See the background notes for more information.
Note 2: SIMD data not available for 33 cases of exclusion, including cases for pupils not matched to the Pupil Census.