Expulsion from school in Northern Ireland

At times, autistic children and young people may face expulsion from school - a decision that a child may no longer attend a particular school’s premises.

We also have information about suspension from school in Northern Ireland.

The guide does not cover expulsions from private/independent schools, as these types of school have different procedures.

Who has the power to expel a child?

An expulsion can only be made by the Education Authority (EA) or the board of governors of other grant aided and Catholic maintained schools.

What can a child be expelled for?

Schools must have a discipline policy to explain the required standards for pupils. A child should only be expelled for a serious breach, or persistent breaches, of this policy. The policy should say under what circumstances a pupil can be suspended or expelled.

Guidance from the Department of Education states that expulsion is an acknowledgement by a school that it can no longer provide for a pupil. A decision to expel a pupil should not be taken a lightly. It should only be taken:

when allowing the pupil to remain in school would pose a serious threat to the health and safety of other pupils and staff
after a range of strategies to modify the pupil’s behaviour have been tried and failed
after all relevant facts and evidence have been examined and the pupil and others involved have given their version of events
when a responsible adult is available at home to receive the pupil.

Expulsion is not suitable for minor breaches of school rules, such as:

failure to complete homework
lateness or truancy
breaches of school uniform rules
incidents that occur outside school hours and off school premises (except school activities).

Also, a child can’t be expelled because of poor academic performance.

Special educational needs and expulsion

Your child may still be expelled if he or she has special educational needs. However, your child’s special educational needs as well as their age, maturity, home life and other relevant circumstances should be considered before a decision is taken. Where practical, talk to your child to hear their version of events · check whether the incident may have been provoked, for example by bullying or by racial or sexual harassment, or whether there were any other contributing factors, such as bereavement or mental health issues.

You may feel that your child’s expulsion is unfair and that if more appropriate support was in place for your child it could have been prevented.

Read more about getting extra help in school.

The expulsion process

Before expulsion

Your child can only be expelled if they have been suspended first.

There must be a meeting between you and:

the school's principal
an officer from the EA, authorised by the EA’s chief executive
the chairperson of the board of governors; and
the Director of the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) (or another authorised officer) if your child attends a Catholic maintained school.

Your child should also be involved in the decision-making process. If you decide not to take part in the consultation meeting, then your child can still be expelled.

During the consultation meeting, you will be invited to state your case and explain your reasons for disagreeing with a decision to expel to your child. For example, you may feel that other measures or strategies could have been tried. If the recommendation to expel is as a result of your child’s behaviour, this could suggest that the right support is not in place for them.

You may feel that the school has failed to look at why they behaved in that way. Is it anxiety, which many people autistic people experience? Are their needs being fully addressed and supported?

To help prepare for any meetings, you may wish to ask for copies of:

your child’s school record
any education plans they have (e.g. Individual Education Plan (IEP) and/or statement)
the school’s discipline and special educational needs policies
the scheme which outlines the school’s expulsion procedures. You can view this online or you may wish to contact your child’s school or the EA (or CCMS if your child attends a Catholic maintained school) for a copy
any witness statements, including your child’s, if the expulsion was as a result of an incident.

You may also want to:

take a friend or adviser for support during the meeting
write down what you would like to say and read it out
make a list of questions you have and tick them off as the meeting progresses.

After the consultative meeting, the principal must inform you that a report containing minutes of the consultative meeting will be presented to the next meeting of the board of governors. If the expulsion of your child remains an option, you should be invited to the next meeting of the board of governors. If you decide not to attend, the meeting, then your child can still be expelled.

The board of governors' decision

If your child attends a controlled school and the board of governors decide at this meeting that your child should be expelled, the chairperson must immediately write to the Chief Executive of the EA and the principal must write to you to inform you that a recommendation for expulsion has been lodged with the EA. The Chief Executive or their appointed nominee will then convene a meeting of the EA's Expulsion Committee to decide whether your child should be expelled.

If your child attends a Catholic maintained school, the board of governors is the expelling authority and can make the decision to expel your child.

What happens if they still decide to expel my child?

If, after the consultation, your child is expelled from a controlled school the EA must immediately give you written notification of the reasons for the expulsion. The letter must also give you information about your right to appeal, including the time limits for appealing and where to lodge the appeal. The EA must also notify the board of governors of its decision.

If your child attends another grant aided or Catholic maintained school, the board of governors must immediately give you written notification of the reasons for the expulsion and your right to appeal, including the time limits for appealing and where to lodge the appeal.

Making an appeal

A decision to expel a pupil from school can be reviewed by an appeal tribunal that is set up and maintained by the EA.

The tribunal is usually made up of three or five people, including a chairperson, appointed by the EA. The panel members will normally include people who represent the interests of schools in the area and people who have experience of local education arrangements or parents but won’t include anyone who has been involved in the matter or school concerned.

If your child has been expelled you have 10 days to lodge an appeal to the Expulsions Appeal Tribunal. This starts from the date you received the expulsion letter.

Your appeal must be made in writing and should state that you wish to appeal the decision to expel your child from school.

In the letter, or at a later date, you may also want to include:

details of the expulsion
your views on the expulsion and reasons for disagreeing with the decision
a copy of any letter(s) you received from the school or others about the expulsion
copies of any other documents or information that will help to put your views across.

The EA or Board of Governors may also send information to the appeals tribunal about their views on the expulsion. The tribunal may ask them to provide further information, such as details of the procedures they followed.

The appeal hearing

Before the hearing you may be asked to give details of people you will be bringing to the hearing with you. You can bring:

someone to support you, such as a friend, relative, befriender or professional
a representative or advocate who will conduct the hearing on your behalf.

At the hearing you will be given the chance to put your views across and address the appeals tribunal panel. The hearing is designed to be informal so that you can present your views.

The tribunal's decision

The tribunal panel will look at the information provided by all parties. They will also consider any information that has been presented at the hearing by either you, the school, the EA or Board of Governors. In particular, they will consider whether the expulsion procedures were followed properly and will take into account the interests of the other pupils and teachers at the school.

The tribunal can either:

allow the appeal and tell the school to re-admit your child
agree with the decision to expel and dismiss the appeal.

If the school has not fully complied with the law or its expulsion procedures the appeal will be allowed.

Once the appeal tribunal panel reaches a decision, they will write to you and the EA or Board of Governors with details of their decision. If you are not happy with the tribunal’s decision, then you may wish to seek legal advice.

How you can make a claim of disability discrimination

If you think the school’s decision amounts to disability discrimination, you can in some cases appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST).

Your child should be considered disabled for the purposes of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (as amended by the Autism Act (Northern Ireland) 2011) which defines a disabled person as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

To claim that your child has suffered disability discrimination in relation to your child’s expulsion from school, you should be able to show that the following apply:

your child has been unlawfully treated less favourably than their non-disabled peers
reasonable steps have not been taken to avoid putting them at disadvantage compared to non-disabled pupils
the expulsion was related to your child's disability
the expulsion was not justified and there were other actions the school could have taken, rather than expulsion
the school could have taken steps to prevent the situation that led to the expulsion.

You must lodge your claim within six months from when the expulsion took place.

Education during and after expulsion

The consultation meeting that must happen before a decision is made to expel your child, must include discussions about your child’s future education. Your child has the right to remain in school until they are formally expelled, unless they are suspended, so the school must not suggest transferring your child to another school until the formal procedures have started.