Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Suella Braverman (Reform UK) on Monday, 20 April 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 22 April 2026. It was answered by Olivia Bailey (Labour) on Tuesday, 28 April 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Pupil Exclusions: Complaints

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many complaints about pupil suspensions were upheld by her Department in each of the last five years.

Answer

The department’s School Complaints Compliance Unit considers complaints about exclusions including pupil suspensions in relation to both academies and local authority maintained schools. Complaints are categorised as exclusions complaints on our case management system. Data on complaints logged as exclusion complaints for the last five academic years is in the table below:

Number of exclusion complaints upheld or partially upheld by the department

Academic Year

Number of academy exclusion complaints

Number of maintained school exclusion complaints

2020/21

13

7

2021/22

13

8

2022/23

11

5

2023/24

27

5

2024/25

13

9

2025/26*

13

9

Total

90

43

*Complaints received and closed up to and including 31 March 2026.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
128281
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Complaints Pupil exclusions
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk