What Else Are They Supposed To Do With Them?

The proportion of secondary school students in England removed from class and placed in “internal exclusion” as a disciplinary measure has almost trebled in three years, according to new data.

And of course, it’s affecting the ones you could have guessed it’ll be affecting: 

Poorer children are disproportionately affected, with more than one in five (22%) disadvantaged youngsters taken out of lessons at least once in 2025/26, up from 8% three years ago – a 175% increase, according to analysis of the data. The figure was one in ten (10%) for non-disadvantaged pupils. Children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) are also overrepresented, with 18% of students with an education, health and care plan removed from class at least once in 2025/26.

In other words, the underclass and the ones unable to moderate their behaviour.

Critics say that putting pupils into internal exclusion – which varies between schools but is sometimes described as an “isolation room” – can damage mental wellbeing and result in lost learning.

Do those critics actively teach these children? No? Then why should we listen to a word they have to say? Nothing damages mental wellbeing like trying to learn when stuck in a class where someone disruptive is allowed to run riot, after all.

Unlike permanent exclusions and fixed term suspensions, when pupils are sent home, internal exclusions require children to remain on site and they are returned to their class at the end of the exclusion. While the government collects data on exclusions and suspensions, it does not for internal exclusions.

Well, someone obviously is! Who is it, and why are they doing it? Well Reader, I think you can guess, can’t you?

Arbor’s CEO and co-founder, James Weatherill, said: “Schools clearly need effective ways to respond when behaviour disrupts learning, and we know from schools that internal exclusion can be an important alternative to sending a pupil home. But the scale of this increase, particularly among disadvantaged pupils, should prompt us to look more closely at what is driving it.”

Yes, Reader, you guessed it - it’s yet another lobby organisation. 

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Internal exclusions are never used lightly but only after other avenues have been exhausted. They are a step short of an external exclusion and are designed to keep the student in school with appropriate learning support.”

You tell ‘em, Pepe!