School suspensions hit record high in Walsall - but how does it compare with the rest of the UK?
The number of school suspensions handed out in the last academic year in Walsall was the highest on record, new figures show.
Figures from the Department for Education show that 6,337 suspensions were handed out in Walsall schools in the 2023/24 academic year – up from 3,107 a year earlier.
It was also the highest figure since local records began in 2006/07 and means that the borough had a rate of 11.9 suspensions per 100 pupils last year.
The release of the data comes after the school leaders' union NAHT warned the causes of classroom disruption "lie beyond the school gates".
Across England, there were about 955,000 suspensions in the 2023/24 academic year, the highest on record.
Permanent exclusions also reached a record level, with 10,900 recorded last year. It included 55 exclusions in Walsall.
Beth Prescott, education lead at the Centre for Social Justice think tank, said: "There is a crisis of bad behaviour disrupting classrooms."
She added: "Government and schools have an important role to play, but our research shows that parents also need to up their game and take responsibility for their children’s behaviour in class.
"There has been a fundamental breakdown in the school-parent social contract."
The figures also showed pupils receiving free school meals (FSM) and those receiving special educational needs (SEN) support faced a higher rate of suspensions.
Walsall recorded a rate of 25.3 suspensions per 100 FSM pupils – 5.2 times the rate for pupils not receiving FSM.
Meanwhile, the area had a rate of 25.7 suspensions per 100 SEN pupils, which was 2.8 times the rate for children not receiving support.
Avnee Morjaria, associate director at the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank, said: "Those hardest hit are often the most disadvantaged: children from low-income families, those with special educational needs, and those from minority ethnic backgrounds."
She added: "Schools are overstretched and under-supported, and without urgent action, we risk letting this crisis of lost learning become a lasting legacy.
"We need bold reform, investing in a system that is inclusive by design instead of support being locked behind legislative thresholds."
