OUR AIMS & BELIEFS

We aim to prevent young people being unfairly or unlawfully excluded from school.

This aim is universal: we will take on every case covered by the School Exclusion Guidance. We will never reject a case because the prospects of success are too remote. We will always strive to protect and empower the young people we represent and help to give them a voice.


The exclusion Guidance states that “permanent exclusion should only be used as a last resort”, and this is our guiding principle. The School Exclusion Project knows that permanent exclusion from school has profound and long-lasting effects on the life of a young person. Feelings of isolation, rejection and powerlessness are common-place for young people who have been excluded and there are few better predictors of illiteracy, criminal offending, mental illness, future unemployment, and homelessness. A recent HMIP survey found that 83% of boys in young offender institutions had been permanently excluded.


The Project therefore strives to ensure that there are no illegal exclusions and no discrimination against students with SEN or from minority groups.

We seek to achieve this aim by:

  • providing free advice to parents, carers and others who are concerned about exclusions;
  • providing free representation at Governing Body hearings about permanent exclusions;
  • providing free representation at Independent Review Panel hearings;
  • providing free representation in the First-Tier Tribunal, where it is alleged that a permanent exclusion amounts to unlawful disability discrimination; and
  • developing links with other individuals and organisations concerned about school exclusions.

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