School Exclusions: A Helpful Guide for Parents, Guardians and Carers

This video provides an overview of school exclusions for parents, carers and guardians focusing on how to prevent them, alternatives and what to do when they occur. This video has been created by students volunteering with Warwick Law in the Community (LinC), with the support of Warwickshire County Council, Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice Forum, Bailey Wright & Co Solicitors. The information provided is independent.

This video was created before a recent change in guidance, but it has been checked for accuracy and edited where relevant as of December 2022. Note the most recent guidance on school exclusions refers to fixed term exclusions as 'suspensions', and this is the terminology you are likely to hear used now. A link to the new guidance can be found below.

This video provides general guidance and information only and should not be regarded as legal advice for individual circumstances. Information about how to get legal help is included at the end of the video, and there are links at the bottom of this description.

You can navigate to the most relevant part of the video for you using the timestamps below.

1:45 What school exclusions are and when they can be used
4:25 How to prevent school exclusions through early intervention
12:35 Things to look out for and dealing with unlawful exclusion
15:03 How to deal with a permanent school exclusion
20:00 How to get help and legal advice

Additional Links
We hope this video provides a useful overview, but you will mostly likely find you need more detailed information. We have provided links below to reliable sources of information.

School Exclusions

SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities).

Options such as elective home education and flexible schooling are briefly mentioned in the video. If your school is in Warwickshire, you can find more information here:

Discrimination

Legal Help