BLACK STUDENTS are disproportionately faced with permanent exclusion from schools in England, new data shows.

Black Caribbean children – as well as those from Gypsy Roma and Irish traveller backgrounds – were excluded at a rate at least double compared to other students.

They had a permanent exclusion rate of 0.25, the equivalent of 25 pupils per 10,000, new statistics from the Department of Education shows.

Children with mixed white and black Caribbean ethnicity were permanently excluded at a rate of 0.24.

This is over double the national rate – and the rate at which white British children were permanently excluded – of 0.10.

Poor and SEN students

The statistics show 7,894 schoolchildren faced permanent exclusion in the 2018-19 academic year.

There were also some 438,265 fixed-term expulsions handed out.

Pupils from black Caribbean, Gypsy Roma and Irish traveller backgrounds also faced a disproportionate rate of fixed-term expulsons.

Black children were temporarily expelled at a rate of 10.37, and those with mixed white and black Caribbean ethnicity at 10.69.

This is in comparison to a rate of 6.01 for white British children.

The most common reason for both permanent and fixed-term expulsions was persistent disruptive behaviour, however school policies that saw black hairstyles, kissing teeth and fist-bumping prohibited also played a part.

The government figures also revealed pupils from a less fortunate background – those on free school meals – were four times more likely to be expelled than their classmates.

Students with special educational needs (SEN) were also found to face a higher permanent exclusion rate than those without.