Following the Scotland General (Scotland) Regulations 1975 there are two circumstances when a school can exclude a pupil: 

The exclusion should be for as short a period as possible. The school, pupil and their parent(s)/carer(s) should use the time during and after the exclusion to resolve the situation and make sure the right support is in place. 

In general, the same school rules apply to all pupils. This means pupils with additional support needs can be excluded. 

Schools should take extra care when deciding whether to exclude a pupil with additional support needs. They should consider whether a pupil’s behaviour is directly linked to their support needs, or whether it’s because the right support is not in place. They should always think about the impact an exclusion will have on a child’s wellbeing and support. 

If your child is disabled, the school must ensure that they are not treating them unfairly by excluding them. If the school excludes your child because of behaviour connected to their disability, this may be unlawful discrimination. If you are concerned about possible discrimination, The Equality Advisory and Support Service can provide free advice on issues related to equality and human rights. 

Find out more in our webpage on Equality Rights.  

Schools must take particular care when considering and managing the exclusion of care experienced pupils. 

Find out more in our Navigate toolkit for anyone supporting a care experienced pupil facing an exclusion: ‘Navigating school exclusions’ . 

Schools must also think carefully about the impact of exclusions on children living in poverty and those going through difficult home life circumstances. 

Schools must follow a set of rules when excluding a child. This includes: 

The school may draw up a plan of action for your child and ask you each to agree and sign it before admitting them again. This is not a legal requirement. 

It’s important that the school involves your child in any meetings about their exclusion if appropriate. 

If these rules aren’t followed and the exclusion isn’t recorded, it could be an ‘unlawful exclusion’. 

Your child still has a right to an education while they are off school. If they’re only excluded for a few days, they might not get any teaching, but the school may send them some work home to complete. 

If your child is excluded for longer, alternative arrangements for them to continue learning should be made. This should happen without an unreasonable delay and generally after three days of exclusion. This could happen at home, in another school, or somewhere like a library or community centre. 

The local authority should, as far as possible, make sure that your child receives the quality, quantity, and range of education they were receiving before they were excluded. Any arrangements should involve contact with your child on a regular basis. 

If your child gets support from other professionals, for example speech and language therapy, this should carry on while they’re excluded. 

You, or your child – if they understand how to – have the right to appeal against an exclusion. There is no legal deadline for appealing, but it’s usually best to submit it as soon as you can to try and get things resolved quickly. 

Exclusion appeals go to your local authority’s education appeals committee. The school must tell you how to appeal in the letter you are sent after the exclusion. Our factsheet on education appeals committees gives detailed information on how this works. 

If your appeal is successful, the details of the exclusion will be removed from your child’s school records and can’t be disclosed (for example to a future employer). 

Find out more on our webpage More formal routes for resolving disagreements. 

Advice for parents /

Education appeal committees

If you are appealing an exclusion or certain kinds of placing request it goes to something called an education appeal committee. This webpage explains what an education appeal committee is

Before and after they return, the school should work together with you and your child. Together you can try and work out what led to the exclusion, and what steps can be taken to avoid it happening again. It’s important that the school listens to your child’s views about what happened and what would make a difference for them going forward. 

It’s often helpful to ask for a discussion about the support your child is receiving, to see if any different supports or strategies might help them. If your child has a written support plan, you could ask for this to be reviewed. 

In exceptional circumstances, the school may suggest a short period of part-time education for your child, but they should check that you agree this would be in your child’s best interests and there should be an agreed timescale for your child returning to school full-time. This can allow the school to get the right support in place to meet your child’s needs. 

For more information on this, have a look at our Part-time timetables and flexible arrangements page. 

Sometimes if a child or young person is excluded, this can then lead to low school attendance. If you notice that your child has returned after an exclusion and is showing signs of not wanting to go back into school, you should make your child’s school aware of this as soon as possible. 

You can read more about some steps you can take to talk with your child’s school on our page Attendance and missing school. 

Advice for parents /

Part-time timetables and flexible arrangements

There are lots of reasons why your child might go onto a part-time timetable or another flexible arrangement. 

If your child is sent home but formal procedures for exclusion aren’t followed and it isn’t recorded, this could be an ‘unlawful’ exclusion. This is because all forms of exclusion, including ‘cooling-off periods’, ‘informal exclusions’ and saying your child cannot cope with a full day, must be recorded by the school. 

If your child sometimes becomes distressed at school, staff should try and predict and plan for the type of situations that can trigger them to feel overwhelmed, upset or frustrated. They should try to work out what is causing them to feel this way and how to keep your child feeling calm, safe and supported at school. Any plans made should consider how your child’s support needs affect their communication and behaviour. 

They should do this by working together with you and using their own knowledge of your child. They can also involve other professionals, like educational psychologists, if they feel more advice and input would be helpful. 

If your child is regularly sent home, this is probably a sign that they need more or different support. You can contact the school and ask them what can be done next to avoid this continuing, and to make sure the right support is in place. 

Regular exclusions suggest that the support your child is receiving is not working and may need to change. When your child returns to school, ask for a review of the support and strategies the school has in place for your child. This might include seeing if any further assessments of their needs would be helpful, to try and get to the root cause of any issues and work out how best to support your child in future.

Your child’s views on what is leading to the exclusions and what might help them should be part of discussions too. 

Advice for parents /

Working with school and solving problems

A positive relationship with your child’s can help make sure your child gets the support they need. Read on for advice about building and maintaining good relationships and avoiding disagreements.

Permanent exclusions are when a pupil is removed from the school register and cannot return to the school. This is rare in Scotland. If your child is permanently excluded from their school. The local authority is still responsible for their education and must find them another school as soon as they can. 

Included, Engaged and involved Part 2: A Positive Approach to Preventing and Managing School Exclusions (2017) is the Scottish Government’s guidance on exclusions. It explains the processes that must be followed before, during and after an exclusion from school. Annex C has checklists for things schools should consider at each stage of a potential or actual exclusion. The guidance also has advice for schools and local authorities on approaches for preventing exclusions.   

Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1: Improving Attendance in Scotland’s Schools is the Scottish Government’s guidance on attendance and has details of why attendance following an exclusion can be difficult for some children and young people. 

Reach, our website for children and young people, has a page Exclusion from school which gives young people an overview of exclusions and what their rights are around them. 

Parent Club’s page Exclusion from school gives general advice to parents and carers on exclusions and how you might be able to support your child and yourself during this period. 

Enquire’s Navigate toolkit has the page Navigating school exclusions, providing advice and information for adults supporting children and young people with care experience.