ABSTRACT
Both studies investigated the frequency of reinstatement by the governors and LEA, and found that reinstatement is rare. The JMU study found that reinstatement by the governing body is more common than reinstatement by the LEA. In the survey of head teachers, 76 per cent (79 out of the 104 who replied) stated that none of their exclusion decisions are overturned. Among the rest, 18 per cent stated that not more than one in ten of their decisions is overturned and only 6 per cent stated that their decisions have been overturned more frequently. Within the Leeds study the largest number of reinstatements reported by any LEA in any one year was four; in many of the years in question individual LEAs reported no reinstatements. Within the head teachers’ sample, only an inner city school with the highest rates of exclusion had experience of the governors exercising their power to reinstate. These results show that the parents’ concerns that governing bodies merely rubber-stamp head teachers’ decisions could be justified.
