Education outcomes for looked after children: 2014-2015

This publication links school and social work data to present information on the attainment, post-school destinations of looked after young people who leave school, and the school attendance and exclusion rates of all looked after children.


School exclusions of looked after children

School exclusions of looked after children

In comparison with the general school population, this section presents data on the numbers and rates of exclusions of the 654 looked after children at publically-funded schools who were successfully linked to schools data, and who experienced an exclusion. Exclusions data is now only collected every two years, so the information for 2011/12 and 2013/14 is not available.

Table 4.1 shows the total number and rate of exclusions. As children can be excluded more than once per year they will be counted more than once in these figures. The rate of exclusions among looked after children is much higher than in the general school population (218 cases per 1,000 looked after pupils, compared to 27 per 1,000 in the general school population), and is falling at a similar rate. However, the absolute fall in the rates of exclusions for looked after children is much greater, but they are coming from a much worse position.

Table 4.1: Exclusion rate per 1,000 pupils by all pupils, looked after children and stage, 2009/10 to 2014/15

Stage 2009/10 2010/11 2012/13 2014/15
Looked after full year
Primary 122 95 83 79
Secondary 632 584 476 322
Special 591 455 576 569
Scotland 360 321 279 218
All pupils
Primary 12 11 10 9
Secondary 82 72 58 50
Special 174 148 148 126
Scotland 45 40 33 27

As seen in chart 5, looked after children are showing a continuing decline in the rate of exclusions, the declines are comparable in proportion to those in the overall population, although they look much more impressive as they started from a much worse position.

Chart 5 Exclusion rate per 1,000 pupils by all pupils, looked after children, 2009/10 to 2014/15

Chart 5 Exclusion rate per 1,000 pupils by all pupils, looked after children, 2009/10 to 2014/15

Where Table 4.1 presents data on the total number of exclusions, including potential multiple counts of the same child, Table 4.2 presents data on the total number of children excluded, resulting in lower figures. In both groups, the rate of exclusions is four to five times greater in secondary schools compared to primary schools.

Table 4.2: Number of different pupils excluded and exclusion rate per 1,000 pupils by all pupils, looked after children and sector, 2014/15

Stage Number of pupils excluded Rate per 1,000 pupils
Looked after children
Primary 119 36
Secondary 452 150
Special 91 228
All Pupils
Primary 1,890 5
Secondary 8,176 29
Special 380 56

Accommodation type

Table 4.3: Cases of exclusions for looked after children, by accommodation type, 2014/15 (1),(2)

Single Type of Accommodation Total exclusions for looked after children Exclusions per 1,000 pupils who were looked after
In the community
At home with parents 299 261
With friends/relatives 236 141
With foster carers provided by LA 169 109
With foster carers purchased by LA 104 135
In other community (1) 2 125
Residential Accommodation
In local authority home 131 891
In voluntary home 34 810
In residential school 0 -
In other residential (2) 15 246
Unknown/Multiple placements 463 370
Total looked after children 1,453 218

(1) Includes 'with prospective adopters'.

(2) Includes 'in secure care accommodation' and 'crisis care'.

As with attendance, there is a similar disparity between types of accommodation in the rates of exclusions. Those children in residential accommodation tend to have higher rates of exclusions than looked after in the community. Children looked after at home have a noticeably higher exclusion rate than others looked after in the community (Table 4.3).

There is a tendency for looked after children with a greater number of placements to have a higher rate of exclusions. Clearly the number of placements experienced has a strong influence on the rate of exclusions.

Table 4.4: Cases of exclusions for looked after children, by number of placements, 2014/15

Number of placements Total exclusions Exclusions per 1,000 pupils who were looked after
1 990 182
2 259 301
3 148 536
4 29 403
5 or more 27 628
Scotland 1,453 218

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