Decades of evidence show that racial bias, adultification, and systemic inequalities shape how Black students are disciplined in schools. Black pupils, families, and teachers repeatedly report experiencing racism within school environments, yet these realities are too often dismissed or ignored. Additionally, off-rolling and ‘unexplained moves’ disproportionately impact disadvantaged communities but remain inconsistently recorded and unregulated, masking the true scale of the issue.
Update: Judgment has been received following the hearing at Court of Appeal. The case did not succeed unfortunately. Despite this the judgment puts into sharp focus that in deciding whether to permanently exclude, schools must look to see if there are markers of behaviour that indicate that child criminal exploitation exists.
BEO’s evidence was specifically mentioned in the judgement.
‘The additional witness statements from Coram and BEO speak powerfully of the severe impact which a permanent exclusion has on the child concerned, depriving him of the protective environment of the school and making him potentially more vulnerable to exploitation by criminal gangs. For my part I would readily accept what they say.’
We will be working with the legal teams at Garden Court Chambers and Freshfields LLP to put together materials to support parents and advocates who are faced with the threat of permanent exclusion at governing body or Independent Review Panel hearings, where child criminal exploitation may be evident.
This case involved a young Black boy who had been exploited into a county line gang. The Academy knew that his behaviour in school was out of character and had been made aware that he had likely been criminally exploited and forced into a county line.
Despite the evidence the Governing Body decided to permanently exclude, this decision was upheld following an independent Review Panel.
The judicial review claim is amongst other points arguing that the Academy had sufficient evidence before it to take positive steps to comply with their Article 4 European Convention on Human Rights obligation to prevent someone being trafficked into forced labour or slavery.
BEO was asked to intervene in the claim, in the same way as we did in the Windrush judicial review. We were supported by a legal team from Freshfields LLP and barristers from Garden Court Chambers.
Our CEO Timi Okuwa states: “The consequences are devastating—exclusions fuel the school-to-prison pipeline, cutting Black children off from opportunities and reinforcing cycles of marginalisation. Instead of erasing the problem, we need urgent reforms to create an education system that sees, supports, and uplifts Black children not one that disproportionately punishes and discards them.”
