Figures show school closures reached a record high of a quarter of a million last fall, affecting 135,000 students.
An analysis of Department of Education data by the Center for Social Justice found that 6,495 young people were permanently excluded from school in the 2021-2022 school year, with numbers almost back to pre-pandemic levels.
The think tank found that there were 247,400 suspensions recorded last fall, with more than a million days lost due to suspensions during the school year.
The figures were described as “staggering”.
Research by the Center for Social Justice, conducted for Integrated, a coalition of groups working to reduce school exclusion, found that outcomes for those permanently excluded from school were “incredibly poor.”
It found that 4.6% of students who completed Key Stage 4 after moving to a government-funded alternative school achieved a grade 4 or above in GCSE maths and English.
The report also said pupils from some ethnic groups, including Gypsies, Irish Travelers and Black Caribbeans, were “disproportionately affected” by exclusion from school.
The study found that students from Romani or Romani backgrounds received the highest percentage of suspensions, with more than one in four having been suspended at some point in 2021/2022.
The think tank said pupils eligible for free school meals in 2021/22 were five times more likely to be permanently excluded from school than their peers.
Conservative MP Andy Carter, leader of the All Party Parliamentary Group on School Exclusion, said: “Since the start of the pandemic, exclusion has increased and suspensions have reached record levels.”
The Warrington South MP said: “As the devastating effects of the pandemic continue to devastate the lives of our children, it must be every child’s responsibility to ensure they have access to a quality education that meets their educational, social and emotional needs.”
Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, said: “These shocking figures show the Conservative government has become distracted from what is happening since the pandemic, and it should come as no surprise given that Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the government’s best efforts had been achieved. Children’s health programs.
“The Prime Minister’s response to growing problems of bad behavior, a crumbling concrete scandal, a lack of special education and historic levels of chronic absenteeism is ill-conceived A-level reform that schools, families and young people do not want. »
Additional reporting from the Press Association