The Excluded Initiative was a campaign to reduce school exclusions, that is, to help schools build their own inclusion capacity and tackle the root causes of suspensions and exclusions. Eight schools took part and each was provided with the funding to create and deliver an on-site inclusion hub bespoke to their unique context. 

The initiative reached over 500 young people, over half of whom were eligible for free school meals and a third had special educational needs or disabilities. 

This evaluation shows that participating schools saw their suspension rates rise at a much slower pace than a matched control group. This suggests that the Excluded Initiative has overall had a positive impact on suspensions. Similarly, there were on average much higher exclusion rates for the Excluded Initiative schools than the control schools before Excluded Initiative was introduced. The patterns are even more pronounced if one outlying school is not included in the analysis.

Key recommendations

• Keep links to mainstream education and plan for reintegration.
• Consider parents/carers as partners.
• Build a whole-school ethos.
• Provide more funding to schools for internal alternative provision and for its evaluation.
• Ensure sufficient and timely wider support from services such as mental health and social care.