Overview

• State-funded secondary schools in England issued 22.6 suspensions per 100 pupils in 2023/24, more than twice the rate of 10.7 recorded in 2018/19.
• The North East led all regions with 39.7 suspensions per 100 pupils, almost double the national average.
• Outwood Academy Normanby recorded 348 suspensions per 100 pupils, and Co-op Academy Grange handed out 3,174 suspensions, the highest total last year.
• Students eligible for free school meals faced 55.8 suspensions per 100, nearly five times the rate of peers not receiving them.
• Persistent disruptive behaviour drove 569,921 suspensions in 2023/24, with 174,063 for verbal threats and 204,727 for physical assault against pupils or staff.