North Yorkshire Council has launched a public consultation on proposed changes to how primary-aged children who have been permanently excluded from school may be taught in the future.
In recent years there has been a significant rise in the number of children of primary age that have been excluded from schools in North Yorkshire.
Permanent exclusions of primary school children have increased from five children in 2021/22 to 25 pupils in 2024/25.
The consultation seeks views from parents, carers, education professionals and the wider community on potential new approaches that aim to improve support and outcomes for the excluded children.
North Yorkshire Council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said:
“We want to ensure that we provide the very best support we can to all pupils in North Yorkshire, and we are keen to glean the views from as many people as possible.
“We have seen increasing numbers of primary aged children who have been excluded from school, so we are having to look carefully at potential new approaches.”
The proposal being consulted on is to extend the age range of already existing pupil referral units and academy alternative provision that they can cater for children of primary age.
This proposal would offer small class sizes and tailored support to meet the needs of each child and help them re-engage with learning in a supportive environment.
Cllr Les added:
“Councils have legal duties to arrange suitable full-time education for permanently excluded pupils within six days of their exclusion.
“I would encourage parents, carers and schools to share their feedback and help shape the future of alternative education provision in the county.”
The consultation will run from until Sunday, November 9. The survey should not take longer than five minutes to complete and is available at https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/appe
Data for primary schools in North Yorkshire shows 22 permanent exclusions recorded in the 2024/25 academic year up to the end of June. This represents a decrease compared to the 25 permanent exclusions reported for the full 2023/24 academic year. Despite this recent drop, the figures are still substantially above the 5 permanent exclusions recorded in 2021/22.
Councillor Annabel Wilkinson, Executive Member for Education, Learning and Skills, highlighted that the rise in primary exclusions had been "gradual over the last few years" and that in most cases, primary schools have excluded only one child. Mr. Carlton provided context, stating these figures represent "about 20 to 25 children in over 200 primary schools".
"The numbers of primary permanent exclusions is worrying, but you have to look at that in a context of about 20 to 25 children in over 200 primary schools.
But the important bit is the preventative work we can now do to try and look at patterns and reducing that with schools so that work is underway.
Overall, comparing it to last year, we think there are slight reductions.
There was one particular school that did 14 to 15 permanent exclusions. We called that chief Executive and school in to make sure that they were held to account and I know changes have been made we keep a really close eye on this and we do challenge where we see anything happening"
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