9 Jul 2026
Today, July 9, the Department for Education’s data release on exclusions and suspensions from schools in England is a positive indication that overall rates are moving in the right direction. We welcome the reduction in exclusions and suspensions and hope this marks the beginning of a sustained year-on-year decline, with the ambition that no child is excluded from school life.
However, our analysis demonstrates a looming crisis in the number of girls suspended and excluded from school, particularly in the North East. As highlighted in our regional analysis of absenteeism data published in March this year, the data continues to show concerning trends, indicating that a child’s educational experience will vary depending on where they live. Today’s exclusions and suspensions statistics reinforce that finding, with our analysis identifying the largest gap ever recorded between the North East and the national average for girls’ permanent exclusions.
Regional differences
While we have seen a decrease in girls’ suspensions and exclusions on a national scale, this has not been felt evenly across the country. There are significant regional disparities in how suspensions and exclusions affect girls across England and Wales, and particular regions need immediate attention. Our analysis of regional differences is demonstrated in these dynamic maps we have developed, below.
- The North East consistently has the highest rates of both suspensions and exclusions for both boys and girls. In the North East, the rate of girls excluded from schools is over twice (2.5x) the rate of the national average (0.18 compared to 0.07). Since 2017/18, this is the largest the gap between the North East and the national average has been, showing a deepening in regional disparities for girls’ exclusions. This theme continues when looking at suspensions, with the rate of suspensions of girls at 14.48 per 100 girls, almost twice (1.8x) the national average. average.
- The North West has the second highest rate of exclusions for girls at 1.4 times higher than the national average.
- Yorkshire and the Humber has the second highest rate of suspensions for girls, at 1.5 times the national average for girls.
At the local authority level:
- Blackpool in the North West has the highest rate of girls excluded from school, at 5.3 times the national average.
- Hartlepool, also in the North East, has the highest rate of suspensions for girls, at 3.6 times the national average.
Exclusions from school
In 2024/25, 2,965 girls in England were permanently excluded from school. The rate of girls excluded from school has increased by 60.2% since 2017/18, with rates of exclusions per 100 girls going from 0.05 to 0.07 exclusions per 100 girls.i Despite this concerning increase, political focus on exclusions largely remains on boys.
Whilst girls accounted for 30% of exclusions in 2024/25 - with boys accounting for the remaining 70% – this has increased from 23% since 2017/18. If urgent attention is not given to the growing effect of exclusions on girls, we are concerned this gap may continue to narrow, leading to us sleepwalking into an educational crisis amongst girls.
Suspensions from school
Worrying trends also persist when looking at suspensions. In 2024/25, over 110,000 girls were suspended in England. In 2024/25, 2.73 girls per 100 were suspended, more than double (106% more) than the 2017/18 rate of 1.33 per 100.
The number of suspensions per girl has also increased, pointing to a growing problem of repeat suspensions – in 2017/18, each girl who was suspended experienced on average just over 2 suspensions in one year. As of 2024/25, this has increased to 3 suspensions each. In comparison, suspended boys were suspended on average 2.7 times each.
Yet again, we see a need for gender-responsive interventions to address the underlying drivers behind concerning levels of suspensions amongst girls: in 2017/18, girls accounted for 27% of suspensions, with boys accounting for the remaining 73%. As of 2024/25, girls account for 37% of suspensions. This means that over 1 in 3 suspensions are now girls.
Spotlight on the North East
Our work in the North East through the Transforming Together network - a network of professionals, local decision-makers, and women with lived experience working together to improve support for women with multiple unmet needs in the North East – has shown that these inequalities extend beyond education.
Our report in partnership with Changing Lives, ‘Dismantling Disadvantage: Levelling up public services for women with multiple unmet needs’, found that a woman in the North East of England was 1.7x more likely to die early as a result of suicide, addiction, or murder by a partner or family member than in the rest of England and Wales. Linked to this, the North East has been disproportionately impacted by austerity spending cuts, particularly those to local government, resulting in less spending on day-to-day services in the area. Failure of public services to provide appropriate support to women and girls with unmet needs was identified as a significant contributing factor to the multiple forms of disadvantage experienced by women.
Experiencing multiple unmet needs does not set in overnight, and taking action to address the drivers of high rates of exclusions and suspensions of girls in the North East is needed to prevent further instances of disadvantage later down the line, and to invest in a brighter future for all girls in the North East.
Indy Cross, Chief Executive of Agenda Alliance, said:
Indy Cross, Chief Executive, Agenda AllianceWe know that many girls at risk of exclusion from school have their experiences marked by gender-based violence, misogyny in the classroom, poor mental health, trauma, and discrimination - directly impacting their access to education.
Whilst we have seen a decrease in both boys’ and girls’ suspensions and exclusions on a national scale, this has not been felt evenly across the country and today’s figures expose the consequences of a lack of focus and investment in girls. Whilst boys remain the focus within education, the gap between boys and girls in rates of suspensions and exclusions is narrowing, with girls in the North East continually bearing the greatest brunt.
To guarantee that every girl, no matter who she is or where she comes from, has equal access to education, urgent action is needed to tackle exclusions amongst girls. Education cannot be a postcode lottery – and the quality of support you receive with education cannot be determined by where you live.
Our previous Freedom of Information requests have further revealed unacceptable ethnic disproportionalities in exclusions and suspensions, with Black Caribbean, Mixed White and Caribbean and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller girls excluded at far higher rates than White British girls. It's disappointing that this data set is not disaggregated by ethnicity.
All of this shows us that access to education is not simplistic enough to be considered purely through a socioeconomic, regional, or ethnicity lens – it requires intersectional analysis and interventions.
We’re calling on the Government to work alongside specialist organisations who are embedded in their communities, are trusted by girls, and deliver specialist support for girls at risk of exclusion, helping to meet their distinct needs.