‘Vulnerable pupils are being pushed out of school through the back door’, children’s commissioner warning

Anne Longfield wants the government to consider fining schools that try to improve exam results by “off-rolling” pupils. Growing numbers of vulnerable children are being pushed out of education as schools try to “game the system to improve their exam results”, the children’s commissioner is set to warn today. Anne Longfield wants the government to consider fining schools found to have excluded pupils for this reason – a practice known as “off-rolling”. Speaking today at the National Association of Virtual School Heads‘ conference in London, she is due to say: “We need to understand much better why a school system set up to welcome children in care through the front door, ends up seeing so many of them leave through the back.” The Department for Education recently announced it is to carry out a review into exclusions.  Read more.