CA-2025-002133 - [2025] EWCA Civ 1335

Guidance on considering the reinstatement of a suspended or

permanently excluded pupil

The governing board should ask all parties to withdraw from the meeting before making a decision. Where present, a clerk should stay to help the governing board by reference to their notes of the meeting and with the wording of the decision letter.

In reaching a decision on whether a pupil should be reinstated, the governing board should consider whether the decision to suspend or permanently exclude the pupil was lawful, reasonable, and procedurally fair. This should consider the welfare and safeguarding of the pupil and their peers, the headteacher’s legal duties, and any evidence that was presented to the governing board in relation to the decision to exclude.