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Pupil exclusions

Rates of exclusion

A total of 454 pupils faced exclusion from school in Glasgow in 2022/23: 56 from primary schools, 373 from secondary schools; and 25 from additional support needs (ASN) schools. There were 645 cases of exclusion in this time period in the city. This page looks at how rates of exclusion have changed over time and at which groups are most likely to face school exclusion. 

Chart comparing rates of exclusion from school across Scottish Cities from 2007 to 2023.Rates of exclusion have dropped since 2007/08 in each of the Scottish cities shown in the chart above. In 2022/23, Glasgow had the lowest rate of exclusion shown, at nine per 1,000 pupils. Aberdeen had the highest rate, at 25.7, but this is still lower than in any of the cities or than the Scottish average in 2007/08. In the 15 years covered in the chart, the Scottish average has fallen from 57.5 to 16.6, and the rate in Glasgow from 96.6 to nine. 

Chart comparing rates of exclusion from school across Glasgow City Region from 2007 to 2023Most of the local authorities in Glasgow City Region show a similar trend of falling rates of exclusion during this time period, although none had quite as high a rate as Glasgow in 2007/08. East Renfrewshire has shown a different trend, with consistently the lowest rate in GCR – the highest rate in East Renfrewshire was in 2009/10, when it was 10.3 per 1,000 pupils, and in 2022/23 it was 3.2 per 1,000 pupils. The highest rate in GCR in 2022/23 was in Renfrewshire, at 29.3 per 1,000 pupils.  

Rates by sex, ethnicity and level of English

Female pupils made up 174 cases of exclusion in Glasgow, whilst males accounted for 471 cases in 2022/23. A total of 142 females and 312 males faced exlcusion in this time period. 

Chart showing rates of exclusion from schools in Glasgow for pupils from different ethnic groups in 2023Rates of exclusion in Glasgow schools varied by pupil ethnicity, as shown in the chart above. The highest rate was for White - Scottish pupils, at 12.2 per 1,000 pupils. The lowest recorded rates were for White - Gypsy Traveller, Asian - Bangladeshi anad Asian - Chinese pupils. For each of these groups, the rate was 0. There are some groups not included in this chart*, as the numbers were too low for statistics to be published. 

There was also variation across pupils with different levels of fluency in English, although, again, for some groups, figures were too low to be published. The rate for pupils with English as a first language was 10.8 per 1,000 pupils, slighlty higher than the Glasgow average. For each of the groups learning English as a second language for whom figures were available, the rates were lower than the Glasgow average. 

Exclusions by SIMD level

Chart comparing rates of exclusion from school in Glasgow for students from different SIMD quintiles in 2023This chart shows the gradient by SIMD qunitile. Glaswegian pupils from the most deprived areas in Scotland saw the highest rates of exclusion – at 11 per 1,000 pupils. In the least deprived areas of the city, the rate was 1.2 per 1,000 pupils. The data from Scottish Government also show the numbers of pupils excluded by SIMD quintile, and most of those exlcuded were from the most deprived areas – with 326 from SIMD 1, and 124 in total from the other SIMD qunitiles.   

Notes

*Five groups not included in ethnicity rates chart: Asian - Indian; Asian - other; Caribbean/Black; White - Irish; and Mixed.