ABSTRACT
Exclusion from school has potentially serious consequences for young people. Their opportunities for academic achievement are curtailed, thereby reducing their chances of gaining educational qualifications and thus progression to further or higher education or into direct employment. Furthermore, exclusion may adversely influence a young person’s sense of belonging, self-esteem and general socialization into acceptable behaviour. This chapter reports research on the nature and extent of exclusion from school in Scotland, 1994–6. It places the findings in the context both of research in England and of current policy concerns with social exclusion. It is in four main sections. Section one sets out the legislative framework for exclusion in Scotland, contrasting it to that in England and Wales. Section two reports the nature and extent of exclusions in a sample of Scottish schools, including data from teachers and pupils about the purposes and effects of exclusion. Section three considers the ways in which school ethos affects exclusion and section four briefly considers the findings in terms of broader policy issues.
