{"id":239988,"date":"2026-01-09T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=239988"},"modified":"2026-02-17T15:00:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:00:48","slug":"internal-exclusion-reset-or-rejection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/internal-exclusion-reset-or-rejection\/","title":{"rendered":"Internal exclusion: Reset or rejection?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Secondary schools that use internal exclusion are isolating almost a fifth of their pupils from their classmates at least once each year, new data shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Department for Education guidance states that removal from the classroom \u2013 sometimes called internal exclusion or isolation \u2013 \u201cshould be considered a serious sanction\u201d and used once all other behaviour strategies are attempted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the seriousness of the measure, the government does not collect national data on its use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But analysis of hundreds of schools by The Key Group<\/a>, which owns management information system provider Arbor, has laid bare how often the measure is practised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It comes as parents report that children with unmet special educational needs felt \u201cimprisoned\u201d after internal exclusion, while others said their child became selectively mute after feeling like the \u201creject kid\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But some sector leaders defended the practice as a \u201creset strategy designed to reboot the student\u2019s behaviour and attitudes\u201d and as a way to prevent suspensions or permanent exclusions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One in five in isolation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Data from The Key Group revealed 18.4 per cent of 856,654 pupils were internally excluded at least once in the 762 secondary schools that recorded internal exclusion in 2024-25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proportion was similar to the previous two academic years \u2013 18.6 and 17.2 per cent. The data excludes schools that recorded no use of internal exclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Haroon
Haroon Chowdry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Haroon Chowdry, the chief executive of the Centre for Young Lives, said the research showed why better data and transparency on internal isolation was needed \u201cas well as other back-door forms of lost learning and exclusion\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe government should routinely collect this, both to shine a light on it and to ask why it is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The figures, extracted from Arbor in November, also show a further 2.16 per cent of 16,217 primary pupils were internally excluded across 443 schools, with 7.43 per cent of 6,782 special school pupils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicola West Jones, the director of insights and external relations at The Key Group, said it was previously \u201cimpossible to obtain the data view\u201d needed to understand internal exclusion rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nicola
Nicola West-Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSchools can make their own decisions about the extent to which they use internal exclusions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo to that end, it\u2019s interesting to see that overall, over the past three years, there has been very little change in both the percentage of secondary pupils who have had at least one internal exclusion recorded in Arbor, as well as the rate. It will be interesting to see if this changes \u2013in either direction \u2013 over time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How schools approach internal exclusion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When Sam Strickland became principal of Duston School in Northamptonshire nine years ago, he found its isolation room in \u201ctotal disarray\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It had about 30 pupils, \u201cmaking the member of staff who\u2019s managing the room\u2019s life a misery, graffiti everywhere\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of getting rid of internal exclusions, Strickland changed how they worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, disruptive pupils are removed from the classroom and placed one-to-one with a senior member of staff in their office. They complete their work, but also get pastoral support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sam
Sam Strickland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou are truly isolated, you are on your own with a member of staff,\u201d Strickland said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe flip side of that is that member of staff isn\u2019t going to just ignore you, will support you if you need that help. But equally you can\u2019t really mess around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Beacon High School in north London, pupils are sent to a \u201crefocus room\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who may have underlying issues affecting their behaviour are directed to the wellbeing centre within the room to receive pastoral support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pupils who persistently misbehave are placed on a \u201cpathways programme\u201d, where the school identifies and provides support for particular issues that might be causing their behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alan Streeter, the school\u2019s head, said his system showed pupils, three quarters of whom are eligible for pupil premium, that \u201cwe\u2019re not just here to punish you, we\u2019re here to understand what you need to be successful\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Bennett, the government\u2019s behaviour and attendance ambassador, said internal exclusions should be \u201cdescribed as a reset\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a strategy designed to reboot the student\u2019s behaviour and attitudes in a small group environment. It\u2019s not a punishment, but a way of preventing or reducing actual suspensions and permanent exclusions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bennett argued the practice was important to \u201cdemonstrate to the rest of the school community that their safety and learning matters\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Unimaginable consequences\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But many campaigners have warned against the impact of internal exclusions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellie Costello, from parent support organisation Square Peg, said an internal exclusion can \u201cset a ball off in a child\u2019s life that can have unimaginable consequences\u201d that \u201cdisproportionately harms those facing the greatest challenges\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study by the University of Manchester<\/a> found pupils with an education, health and care plan, eligible for free school meals, and from black, Asian and mixed heritage backgrounds were more likely to be sent to isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nikola Jones, from south Manchester, said her son\u2019s time in one school\u2019s isolation room after a playground incident \u201ccaused six weeks of anguish\u201d and resulted in him becoming selectively mute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe kept calling himself the reject kid. His social workers said it retriggered all these feelings of rejection, shame and humiliation,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another parent from South Hampshire, who requested anonymity, described how his daughter with unmet SEND needs was sent to an isolation room on a weekly basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe felt at times she was being imprisoned, for things she wasn\u2019t able to control, and for reasons she didn\u2019t feel were right and weren\u2019t properly explained to her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do some schools use it more than others?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Key Group\u2019s data found that out of 6,782 pupils at special schools using internal exclusions, 7.43 per cent were sent to isolation at least once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Horizons Education Trust runs three special schools. Adam Dabin, its chief executive, said putting pupils with social, emotional and mental health or ADHD in isolation \u201cis probably [asking] everything they can\u2019t do anyway\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you then expect them to sit there and do that in silence, not move, have no support \u2013 how are we expecting them to succeed in there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Orchards Academy in Kent, headteacher Hannah Carter introduced \u201cmovement breaks\u201d for disadvantaged pupils who would otherwise find themselves in isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo exclude them from the room may be perceived as a form of rejection\u201d, Carter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of being sent to an isolation room, pupils can access learning in another classroom teaching the same subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carter said it had \u201cbeen working really well\u201d because \u201cit means they stay within the subject that they were learning and are following the same curriculum, but it\u2019s a fresh start in a new classroom\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rates higher in trust schools, but data has caveats<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Key Group\u2019s data also suggests schools run by multi-academy trusts are more likely to use internal exclusions as a behaviour management tool, compared to council-maintained secondaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2024-25 academic year, there were 266.04 internal exclusions per 100 pupils in MAT-run secondaries, while LA-maintained secondaries had a rate of 153.02 per 100 pupils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, The Key Group said \u201cany differences between MAT and LA schools could be explained by MAT-wide policies around recording internal exclusions on the MIS, for consistency of reporting, so we should be cautious about interpretation of these results\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bennett suggested MATs may be using internal exclusions more \u201cbecause they have understood that resets can be a useful device to reduce suspensions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve Rollett, the deputy chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, said it was difficult to draw conclusions from the data as internal exclusions \u201ccan cover a lot of different practices\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Schools of all types use a range of techniques to address behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Government does not collect national data on internal exclusion. But new figures reveal how often the controversial practice is used<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":315335,"featured_media":239963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[582],"post-theme":[2533],"class_list":["post-239988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-exclusions","post-theme-behaviour"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t