More pupils suspended for bad behaviour will have to stay in school under supervision, rather than being sent home, in a bid to curb learning loss and reduce exposure to phones and social media.
Ministers say the changes are designed to strengthen discipline while ensuring pupils continue learning during short-term suspensions, particularly for non-violent behaviour.
Under a new national framework, schools will be encouraged to use structured internal suspensions, keeping pupils on site in a separate, supervised setting away from peers.
The aim is to reinforce behavioural expectations without cutting children off from education.
Suspensions were first introduced more than 40 years ago, long before smartphones and social media. Today, ministers argue, being sent home can mean unrestricted access to phones, online gaming and social networks.
They say time at home on exclusion is spent doing little to address behaviour or re-engage pupils with learning.
The government says the new approach will end what it describes as a contradiction, where pupils are banned from phones in classrooms but effectively handed them back all day when suspended at home.
While many schools already use internal suspension, ministers say it is often informal and inconsistently applied. In some cases, pupils are isolated and set generic work that does not support learning or reintegration.
Updated guidance will set clearer expectations, requiring internal suspensions to be short, structured, and purposeful, with meaningful work aligned to the curriculum and time built in for reflection.
Pupils will complete the lessons they would otherwise miss, reducing pressure on teachers to recover lost learning.
‘Time out of school compounds disadvantage’
Education leaders have welcomed the shift, pointing to safeguarding concerns when pupils are out of school.
Kiran Gill, chief executive of school leadership charity The Difference, described it as a “really crucial direction of travel” from the government.
Gary Moore, headteacher at Regent High School Camden in north London, also backed the move, saying “time out of school can compound disadvantage, rather than resolve it”.
Grassroots group No More Exclusions was less complimentary, saying school suspensions were “disproportionately made up by children in care, disabled children, black, gypsy, Roma and Irish traveller children”.
“This guidance is an attempt to erase those realities, create a moral panic around mobile phones, and regain control over children and young people through an increasingly authoritarian and punitive culture,” it said.
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Suspensions hit one million
The changes – set out in the government’s upcoming schools’ white paper – come as suspensions reach record levels.
Nearly one million external suspensions were issued in the 2023 academic year, with disadvantaged pupils hit hardest. Children eligible for free school meals are five times more likely to be suspended.
The government has also confirmed there will be 93 attendance and behaviour hubs across England made up of schools with a track record of improvement in these areas.
The hubs will support other schools to identify absence early, build positive cultures, engage parents and establish clear routines.
An independent evaluation of the previous behaviour hubs programme found strong evidence of lasting improvements in pupil behaviour, with changes sustained long after support ended.
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Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said suspensions had been “devalued” by modern home comforts like social media and gaming, leading to “high levels of lost learning”.
“We want to restore suspensions as the serious sanction they should be, while keeping young people engaged in their education and reducing the time teachers spend helping pupils catch up,” she added.
