Education Secretary admits white working-class schoolchildren have been ‘resolutely failed’… as damning figures show they are punished more than any other group

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said white working class schoolchildren have been ‘resolutely failed’ after official statistics revealed they are being punished more than any other group. 

This year’s National Behaviour Survey has uncovered that one in 10 white pupils who have free school meals were suspended in the last academic year.

It is the highest suspension rate of any other group except for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller schoolchildren – all of which are fewer in number.

And further data has revealed that pupils in the white working class are also more likely to be absent and subsequently expelled following suspension. 

During the academic year of 2023/24, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures gathered by The Telegraph show 22.61 out of 100 state-funded secondary school pupils were suspended at least once.

In specialist schools, this dropped by almost half to 12.62 suspensions per 100 pupils.

While in state-funded primary schools, the rate stood at just 2.27 suspensions for every 100 schoolchildren.

In total, those statistics mean the average rate across England lies at 11.31 suspensions per 100 pupils – or more than one in 10.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson says white working class children have been ‘resolutely failed’ after official statistics revealed they are being punished more than any other group

This year’s National Behaviour Survey has uncovered that one in 10 white pupils who have free school meals were suspended in the last academic year (Stock Image)

Ms Phillipson has now called on parents to play a part in improving child behaviour as she warned of the link between school suspensions and success for a pupil in later life.

She said: ‘I am calling on parents, schools and families to join us in playing their part to get children in class and ready to learn for the start of the new school term.

‘We have already made progress with five million more days in school this year, and are backing parents and supporting schools through our Plan for Change.

‘But we all need to do more, and when it comes to getting kids in and behaving – this includes mums, dads and carers too.’

The Education Secretary said that by the age of 24, pupils who had received a suspension in school were three times more likely to receive sickness benefits in the future.

Department for Education (DfE) data also showed that youngsters who regularly miss school earn around £10,000 less on average than their peers.

And with suspension rates far higher in the white working class, Ms Phillipson says opportunities for children in this group are growing ‘out of reach’.

‘Absence leads to lower attainment and robs children of their earning ability. It’s not just exam grades or attendance figures – it’s generations of talent wasted, of young people locked out of the chance to contribute to our society and economy’, she wrote in The Telegraph.

‘The dislocation of these young people, often isolated from their communities, has profound implications not just for those young people, but for society as a whole.

With suspension rates far higher in the white working class than any other, Ms Phillipson says opportunities for children in this group are growing ‘out of reach’

‘It is only this Government that has the courage to upend a system that has resolutely failed white working-class children.’

The DfE’s schools white paper, expected to be published in the autumn, will also set out further plans to tackle behaviour.

In the meantime, they have announced an initial wave of 21 schools that will serve as attendance and behaviour hubs. 

These will see strategies shared by education leaders who have experience in improving attendance and behaviour to crack down on disobedience.

The DfE said the hubs will support 800 schools attended by around 600,000 pupils and that the whole programme is expected to support 5,000 schools, including intensive support for 500.

Data shows seven out of every 30 classroom minutes are lost to disruption, the DfE revealed.

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said he welcomed the Education Secretary’s calls for parents to join in a ‘united front’ to improve behaviour.

However, he added that the ASCL would like to see ‘much more action from the Government’ to support schools and colleges. 

Data shows seven out of every 30 classroom minutes are lost to disruption (File Image)

‘It is extremely difficult to put in place the pastoral systems necessary to support children and young people given the chronic underfunding of the education system,’ Mr Di’Iasio said.

A survey by the NASUWT teaching union earlier this year found that 81 per cent of its near 6,000 members felt the number of pupils displaying violent behaviour at school had increased.

Government figures released in July showed suspensions and exclusions rose to a record high in 2023/24.

The latest DfE figures show that while the overall absence rate was lower in autumn 2024/25 than it was the previous year, the number of pupils severely absent increased from 142,000 in autumn 2023/24 to 148,000 in autumn 2024/25.

CEO of charity Parentkind Jason Elsom said: ‘Parents play a vital role in assuring that their children attend school and establish expectations for their children’s behaviour. Getting it right with parents is a big part of the answer.’

Parentkind’s survey of more than 5,000 parents in 2024 found that 15 per cent of parents believe their child feels unsafe at school.

The DfE has also announced two attendance and behaviour ambassadors to support the programme: Tom Bennett, who has previously advised the DfE on behaviour, and former pupil referral unit headteacher Jayne Lowe.

Government figures released in July showed suspensions and exclusions rose to a record high in 2023/24 (File Image)

Mr Bennett said: ‘Every child deserves a school that is safe and calm, where they can be treated with dignity – and so do all school staff.

‘We’re drawing on the professional experience of some of the best schools in England that have successfully created exactly that.’

Shadow education secretary Laura Trott said: ‘Behaviour and attendance are two of the biggest challenges facing schools and it’s about time the Government acted.

‘Labour had the chance to take action in their Schools Bill, but they failed. There isn’t a single mention of discipline in the entire Bill. They have chosen to dismantle the very system that has driven up standards for decades.’

The troubling new statistics come just weeks after Ms Phillipson labelled white working class pupils’ underachievement in exams due to being ‘written off’ as a ‘national disgrace‘.

The Education Secretary said earlier this month that too many youngsters in this group fail to get the help they need to succeed at school, and that tackling the ‘thorny’ issue will be her ‘priority’ in the coming year.

Last year, only 18.6 per cent of low-income white British pupils achieved at least a grade 5 – considered a ‘strong pass’ – in their English and mathematics GCSEs. 

This compares with 45.9 per cent of all state school pupils in England.