Number of pupils under 18 excluded from schools: FOI release

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.


FOI reference: FOI/18/01277
Date received: 2 May 2018
Date responded: 17 May 2018

Information requested

  • How many under 18s were permanently excluded from state funded schools during the 2016/17, 2015/2016, 2014/2015, 2013/2014 and 2012/2013 periods.

  • How many under 18s were excluded for a fixed period from state funded schools during the 2016/17, 2015/2016, 2014/2015, 2013/2014 and 2012/2013 periods.

Response

The answer to your question is included in table 1 below.

Table 1. Number of pupils aged 17 and under excluded from school by type of exclusion, 2012/13 - 2016/17 (a) (b) (c)

2012/13 2014/15 2016/17
Temporarily excluded 12,101 10,288 10,610
Removed from the register 21 5 (d)

(a) No age data was available for 93 pupils in 2012/13, 61 pupils in 2014/15 and 82 pupils in 2016/17.

(b) Information on exclusions was not collected in 2013/14 or 2015/16 as this data is collected biennially.

(c) Age as at June 2013 in 2012/12, June 2015 in 2014/15 and June 2017 in 2016/17.

(d) Not available. One pupil was removed from the register in 2016/17 and it would be disclosive to provide any information about this pupil's age.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. The reasons why we don't have the information are explained below.

In addition, we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption(s) under section(s) 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why that exemption(s) applies are explained below.

Reasons for not providing information

The Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have asked for because exclusions data is collected on a biennial basis.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.

An exemption applies.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party. Data requested about the age of the pupil removed from the register in 2016/17 is personal as it relates to an identifiable individual and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 1998.

This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses

Contact

Please quote the FOI reference

Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000

The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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