School Exclusion: Your Rights and the 15-Day Deadline

A school exclusion in England follows a fixed statutory process, and most of the parts that matter to parents are deadlines. Only the headteacher can exclude. A pupil can be suspended for no more than 45 school days in a single academic year. Governors must meet within 15 school days for any permanent exclusion. And if governors decide not to reinstate a permanently excluded child, parents have 15 school days to apply for an independent review panel, after which the school can take the child off its register. This page walks through each stage, with the numbers, from the statutory guidance that took effect on 26 July 2026.

Suspension and permanent exclusion are two different things

The law now uses "suspension" for what schools once called a fixed-period exclusion, and "permanent exclusion" for the removal of a pupil from the school roll. Both are disciplinary sanctions, and both are governed by the same statutory guidance, but they trigger very different rights.

Only the headteacher of a school can suspend or permanently exclude a pupil on disciplinary grounds. A deputy acting in the head's absence has the power; a class teacher, a head of year or a trust officer does not. A pupil may be suspended for one or more fixed periods "up to a maximum of 45 school days in a single academic year". That cap counts every day out of school through exclusion in the year, including suspensions carried over from another school, so a child who moves mid-year does not get a fresh 45 days.

Behaviour outside school can be grounds for exclusion. But any decision must be "lawful, reasonable, fair and proportionate", and the head must apply the civil standard of proof, meaning on the balance of probabilities it is more likely than not that the incident happened. The criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt does not apply. Heads should also take the pupil's own views into account in light of their age and understanding, and tell the pupil how those views were considered.

The governing board's duties, by length

This is the part parents most often get wrong, because whether governors even have to meet depends on how many days the child is out of school.

To put the ladder in words:

• Any permanent exclusion: the governing board must convene a meeting to consider reinstatement within 15 school days of receiving notice.
• Suspensions taking the total above 15 days in a term: same 15 school day duty. The guidance is explicit that this includes a total of 15.5 days, so a run of half-days can cross the line.
• Any exclusion that means missing a public exam or national curriculum test: governors must meet within 15 school days and take reasonable steps to meet before the exam date. If that is not practical, in a maintained school the chair of governors may consider reinstatement alone.
• More than 5 but fewer than 16 days in a term: governors must meet within 50 school days, but only if parents make representations. If you say nothing, no meeting happens.
• 5 school days or fewer in a term: governors must consider any representations you make, but they have no power to reinstate the pupil.

Education during a suspension

A suspended child is not entitled to sit at home doing nothing, and schools are not entitled to leave them there.

For the first five school days of a suspension, the school should set and mark work for the pupil. From the sixth school day, the duty changes: for a suspension of more than five school days, the governing board must arrange suitable full-time education, commonly called alternative provision, and it "must begin no later than the sixth school day of the suspension". Consecutive suspensions are treated as one cumulative period, so a school cannot dodge the duty by issuing three separate four-day suspensions back to back.

For a permanent exclusion, the duty sits with the local authority, which must arrange suitable full-time education from the sixth school day after the first day of the exclusion. Where a child has an EHCP, the authority may also need to review the plan or reassess needs with a view to finding a new placement. Our guide to EHCPs covers what that review involves.

Cancelling an exclusion

A headteacher can cancel an exclusion, and the guidance sets out what must follow. Parents (or the excluded pupil if they are 18 or over) should be offered a meeting with the head to discuss the circumstances, arranged without delay. The pupil must be allowed back into school without delay. And critically, any days already spent out of school still count towards the 45-day annual maximum. A permanent exclusion cannot be cancelled at all if the pupil has already been out for more than 45 school days in the year, or would be by the time the cancellation takes effect.

The independent review panel: the 15 school day deadline

If governors decide not to reinstate a permanently excluded pupil, parents can apply for an independent review panel, and this is where the clock matters most.

• The application must be made within 15 school days of the governing board giving notice of its decision. An application outside that window must be rejected.
• Alternatively, where no application was made in time, within 15 school days of the final determination of an Equality Act 2010 discrimination claim about the same exclusion.
• The local authority, or the academy trust for an academy, must arrange the panel at its own expense, and the review must begin within 15 school days of the application.
• Parents may request that a SEN expert is appointed to advise the panel, and the authority or trust must appoint and pay for one if asked, whether or not the school recognises the child as having special educational needs.
• Parents can apply for a panel even if they made no representations to governors and did not attend that meeting.

Governors must also hand over information: within 14 days of a request, the board must provide the material set out in the guidance so parents can prepare.

What a panel can and cannot do

An independent review panel is not a rehearing of the incident, and it cannot order a child back into school. It has three possible outcomes:

1. Uphold the governing board's decision not to reinstate.
2. Recommend that the governing board reconsiders reinstatement.
3. Quash the decision and direct that the governing board reconsiders.

The panel may only quash where the decision meets the legal test for it, and the guidance is clear that a recommendation should not be the default outcome. Where a panel quashes and directs a reconsideration, money follows: in a maintained school or PRU the panel should order a £4,000 readjustment to the school's budget unless the pupil is reinstated within ten school days, and in an academy the trust must pay £4,000 to the local authority. A panel cannot order that payment where it has only recommended a reconsideration.

Coming off the register

A permanently excluded pupil's name must be removed from the school's admission register once either 15 school days have passed since parents were notified of the governors' decision not to reinstate and no panel application has been made, or parents have stated in writing that they will not apply. If an application is made in time, the school must wait until the review is determined or abandoned and any directed reconsideration has been completed. The school cannot backdate the deletion to the day the exclusion started, and it must make a return to the local authority. The common transfer file has to go to the new school within 15 school days.

What to do in the first 48 hours

1. Get the reason in writing. The notice must state the reason and the length. Keep the envelope: notice is treated as given on the day of delivery, or the second working day after posting by first class.
2. Check the day count. Work out how many days the child has been out this term and this academic year. That single number decides whether governors must meet, and by when.
3. Make representations, in writing. For anything of five days or fewer this is your only route; for six to fifteen days it is what triggers the hearing.
4. Ask what education is being arranged. Work for the first five days, alternative provision from the sixth.
5. Diarise the 15 school days. If a permanent exclusion is upheld by governors, that deadline is hard, and missing it ends the review route.

Exclusion is not the same process as a refused school place, though parents often confuse the two. If you are appealing an admission decision rather than an exclusion, start with our school admission appeals guide and the page on grounds for appeal instead. And if the trigger was attendance rather than behaviour, see school attendance fines.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can exclude a pupil from school?

Only the headteacher of the school, on disciplinary grounds. A deputy acting in the head's absence has the power, but a class teacher, head of year or trust officer does not. The head must apply the civil standard of proof, meaning on the balance of probabilities.

How many days can a child be suspended in a year?

A maximum of 45 school days in a single academic year, across one or more suspensions. Days spent out of school under a cancelled exclusion still count, and suspensions received from another school count too.

Do governors have to meet after a short suspension?

Not automatically. For five school days or fewer in a term they must consider your representations but cannot reinstate. For more than five but fewer than sixteen days they must meet within 50 school days, but only if you make representations. Above fifteen days in a term, or for any permanent exclusion, they must meet within 15 school days.

How long do I have to appeal a permanent exclusion?

You have 15 school days from the governing board giving notice of its decision not to reinstate to apply for an independent review panel. Applications made outside that window must be rejected. The review itself must begin within 15 school days of your application.

Can an independent review panel put my child back in school?

No. It can uphold the decision, recommend that governors reconsider, or quash the decision and direct that governors reconsider. Where it quashes and directs, a £4,000 readjustment applies to the school's budget, or the academy trust pays £4,000 to the local authority, unless the pupil is reinstated within ten school days.

What education should my child get while suspended?

The school should set and mark work for the first five school days. For a suspension longer than five school days, suitable full-time alternative provision must begin no later than the sixth school day. After a permanent exclusion the local authority must arrange full-time education from the sixth school day.

Sources

• DfE statutory guidance, Suspension and permanent exclusion from maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England, including pupil movement, effective 26 July 2026: gov.uk
• Education Act 2002, section 51A (exclusion of pupils and review of decisions): legislation.gov.uk

Checked on 5 September 2026 against the version of the guidance effective from 26 July 2026. Schools and academy trusts publish their own behaviour policies within this framework, so check yours for local detail.