'Concerning' number of special education students excluded from Hertfordshire schools

According to county council data, 115 children were permanently excluded during the autumn term last year. Forty-nine of those children were permanently excluded for persistent disruptive behaviour, 25 for physical assault against a pupil and 17 for a physical assault against an adult.

A further seven were permanently excluded owing to drugs or alcohol, with four excluded for the use or threat of an offensive weapon or other prohibited item, four for verbal abuse against an adult and four for inappropriate use of social media.

Other reasons for permanent exclusion included sexual misconduct, verbal abuse against a pupil and damage.

But of those 115 exclusions – of which 52 were later withdrawn – the data shows that children with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) were disproportionately affected. EHCPs are statutory documents of need allocated to children with the greatest levels of special educational need or disability.

Out of the county’s 174,563-strong school population, there are 9,911 children and young people who have an EHCP – equivalent to 5.6% of the school population. But data for the first term of this academic year shows 35 children with ECHPs faced permanent exclusion – accounting for one in three of every permanent exclusions issued.

Meanwhile, comparative data from 2023/24 shows children in Hertfordshire with an EHCP are more than five times more likely to be permanently excluded than their classmates. The trend was highlighted to county councillors on Wednesday (March 11) at a meeting of the county council’s education, SEND and inclusion cabinet panel.

Concerns were raised by Cllr Paula Hiscocks (Rickmansworth West), who suggested that no child with an EHCP should be permanently excluded.

“My concerns here are that the exclusion rate for children with EHCPs is going up,” she said. “And one of the main things is persistent disruptive behaviour – and that is, let’s be honest, that’s because they are not coping in the classroom.

“The children are never at fault. It is the system that is not allowing them to participate in it.”

Earlier in the meeting, director of education Tony Fitzpatrick said that permanent exclusion came as “a last resort” for schools. He suggested the county council wanted to work with schools to look at actions that could be taken to intervene earlier.

“It’s always really difficult for schools,” said Mr Fitzpatrick. “Many schools don’t want to permanently exclude children, but we are in a position where it often comes as a last resort.

“And I think that where we want to work with schools is how we understand what we can do more in terms of our services to meet those needs earlier on.”

He referenced ongoing work to look at instances where children with EHCPs had been permanently excluded and what had led up to that. And he said they were looking at those as case studies to see if interventions could be made earlier, suggesting there were opportunities where support services could work with schools at an earlier stage.

Adding: “I am optimistic we can work in a different way with our services into schools to avoid those permanent exclusions.”

Following the meeting, the executive member for education, SEND and inclusion, Cllr Mark Watkin (Liberal Democrat, Nascot Park), also stressed the need for greater support for children with EHCPs who are at risk of exclusion.

“I am concerned about the number of children with EHCPs that sadly have been excluded,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. I understand that schools have only done this as an act of last resort, having tried many strategies before reaching this point.

“However, the authority has to work with schools and education support centres to provide better support for these children, because once they are excluded, their outcome is much more challenging than if they were still in school.”

According to the 2023/24 data presented to the cabinet panel on Wednesday, 0.09% of the Hertfordshire school population was permanently excluded in the 2023/24 academic year.

But the exclusion rate amongst children with EHCPs was 0.48% – equivalent to almost one in every 200. And although the Hertfordshire permanent exclusion rate overall was 0.04% lower than the national average, the rate for children with EHCPs was 0.22% higher.

Data also shows that the number of children – with and without EHCPs – who have been permanently excluded so far this academic year is higher than last year (2024/25) but lower than in 2023/24.