Exclusions for bullying more than double in Milton Keynes schools

New Department for Education data has revealed there has been a 123% increase in the number of school exclusions for bullying in Milton Keynes over the past year.

This works out as one bullying exclusion per 1,669 students, compared to one such exclusion per 3,658 students the previous year.

In real terms this mean 29 pupils were excluded for bullying.

The data was analysed by Oxford Home Schooling, which looked at bullying hotspots all over the country. Milton Keynes saw the fourth highest increase exclusions, coming under Barking and Dagenham, North Tyneside and Trafford.

But across England, the average number of exclusions for bullying has dropped by 31%. But this was largely due to school closures affecting the amount of contact time students had together, says Oxford Home Schooling.

Greg Smith, the company's head of operations , said: “These new exclusion figures cover the whole of the 2019/20 school year, but with the final term being conducted during lockdown, it’s interesting to see how the data compares to previous totals.

“In many ways, the measures introduced during the pandemic, like reduced class sizes and increased supervision, have helped address the country’s bullying problem, so it will be interesting to see if schools try to adopt some of these permanently, even though restrictions are easing.

“Anecdotally, nearly half of the parents who enrol their children with Oxford Home Schooling list bullying amongst their reasons for doing so. If your child is being bullied at school, then home education is a viable solution.”

To see which local authorities in each region saw the biggest increases and decreases in bullying during lockdown, visit here.