Our education programme head looks at the big issues
New research that in 2022/23 a record 32m school days were lost due to exclusions, suspensions, and unauthorised absences in England shines a harsh spotlight on classrooms across the country. The figures from the IPPR think tank also reveal stark disparities in the children who are being excluded.
The background
Evidence from various sources suggests that poor behaviour in schools has risen. The NASUWT teacher union reported a rise in violence and abuse, and Ofsted has also highlighted an increase in disruptive behaviour within schools. They found that this is especially true of persistent low-level disruption in class, such as pupils refusing to do what they are told or talking back to teachers. However, they also describe particular problems in secondary schools with truancy, vandalism of school property, bullying, harassment and derogatory language or behaviours.
The impact of poor behaviour
Disruptive behaviour has direct consequences for the children exhibiting this behaviour. Suspensions result in lost learning, and research shows that exclusion harms pupils’ education and employment prospects, and increases the chance that they will engage in criminal activity.
Poor classroom behaviour also affects children’s ability to learn, and blights children’s experiences of school. In 2023, the Department for Education’s National Behaviour Survey found that 25% of teachers reported that more than 10 minutes per 30 minutes of lesson time was lost due to pupil misbehaviour.
The National Behaviour Survey also found that 22% of pupils said that they had been a victim of bullying in the past 12 months. This is detrimental to children’s well-being and represents a significant cause of persistent absence, which we know from Nuffield-funded work is a major problem across UK schools. Sadly for some children, their experiences are so poor that they leave school altogether, which we can see in the rising number of children being home-educated.
In light of these issues, the Foundation is funding new research to discover the impact of disruptive pupils on their peers. It will examine the effects on other children when disruptive pupils are excluded, or when pupils who have been removed from one school are integrated into another.
Teachers are also affected by poor pupil behaviour, with 73% of school leaders and teachers answering that misbehaviour negatively impacted their health and well-being in the week prior to responding to the survey. The Education Select Committee recently said: “Reports of worsening behaviour have the potential to discourage prospective teachers from entering the profession and to contribute to existing teachers’ desire to leave the profession.” We know from our research that the problems with teacher supply are significant, and that schools with an improved approach to discipline see fewer teachers leaving the profession.
What works to improve behaviour?
The hike in suspensions and exclusions poses challenging questions about how to tackle poor behaviour and keep children in school, where we know they have the best chance of achieving a positive outcome.
Unfortunately, there is only weak evidence on what behaviour strategies are effective. The Education Endowment Foundation assesses the strength of the evidence around behavioural interventions as low; similarly, Nuffield-funded research identified some interventions that reduced exclusions in the short-term, but the reductions were not sustained over the longer term, and the research found they had no impact on anti-social behaviour. A new Nuffield-funded project aims to improve the evidence by examining the impact of alternative options to exclusion, such as managed moves and alternative provision.
Many approaches to behaviour management have both pros and cons. For example, restorative practices can be commended for focusing on repairing damage caused by harmful conduct or behaviour, but can be criticised as ineffective when used on their own rather than as part of a broader behaviour management strategy. Zero tolerance approaches have an appeal to those looking for consistent practice that ensures staff feel safe at work. However, they can also be associated with increases in exclusions which do not support young people to stay engaged in education or develop the skills that they need.
In some areas, police officers work directly in schools. The aim is to help ensure they are safe places, and to prevent crime and violence around the school. However, the Youth Endowment Fund reports that there is very little research on the impact of this approach. There is also concern it can cause pupils to be criminalised for behaviour that would otherwise have been managed by the school, with a disproportionate effect on Black and ethnic minority young people.
Who is being suspended and excluded from school?
The IPPR report emphasises that ‘the impact of lost learning is not experienced equally’. Children with special educational needs (SEND), on Free School Meals (FSM) and children from certain ethnic backgrounds are disproportionately experiencing exclusion, as shown in the latest government data. For example, children receiving FSMs and those with SEND are suspended at around four times the rate of their peers.
Causes of poor behaviour
In seeking to tackle poor behaviour we have to consider potential causes. The Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition argue for the importance of viewing behaviour as a form of communication that can indicate unmet or undiagnosed needs. In such instances, punitive and reactive approaches that ignore the root causes of behaviour may well prove ineffective, and instead drive dislike of school, anxiety and non-attendance.
External factors may also play a role. For example, research we have funded links an increase in poor behaviour with the rising cost-of-living, Ofsted describes a breakdown in the social contract between schools and parents that can make behaviour management more difficult, and some commentators point to the effect of influencers such as Andrew Tate promoting misogyny and intolerance.
What next?
We’d like to see research applications that will enhance the evidence base on the causes of disruptive behaviour, and approaches to identify and implement effective ways of tackling the issue. We would expect any proposals to build on the existing evidence base and be mindful of forthcoming evidence such as the evaluation of Behaviour Hubs and scoping work being undertaken by the EEF. The deadlines for applications are Spring and Autumn. Find out more about how to apply for our Research, Development and Analysis Fund.
