Bradford school Covid-19 exclusions one of highest in country

One union figure said it could be that more people in the city than elsewhere "didn't take the threat of Covid seriously". 

Department for Education figures show there were 494 exclusions from the city’s schools during the 2020/21 academic year due to “wilful and repeated transgression of protective measures". 

These were temporary exclusions, with 488 coming from secondary schools, four in primary schools and two in special schools.

It means there were 50 exclusions for breaches of Covid measures for every 10,000 pupils in Bradford – one of the highest rates in the country.

Ian Murch, President of the National Education Union in Bradford, said: “One of the factors in Bradford that you have to remember is, it’s one of the locations that has the lowest vaccination rate in the first place so you can imagine that it means more people in Bradford than other places didn’t take the threat of Covid seriously.”

Bradford schools excluded more pupils for breaking Covid-19 rules last year than almost anywhere else in England. Picture: Radar

Children across England were excluded 12,965 times for reasons including non-compliance with social distancing, causing distress such as by purposefully coughing near to others, or any other deliberate breach of a school's public health measures.

Schools were able to list multiple reasons for each exclusion for the first-time last year.

Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, said schools worked very hard to keep pupils and staff safe during the pandemic, and it is not unreasonable that young people should be expected to comply with these measures.

Ian Murch, President of the National Education Union in Bradford

Mr Murch said: “Even when you have the powers, it’s very difficult to exercise them all the time.

“You don’t know at the start whether people are ignoring the rules, it takes a while for them to become obvious to you.”

Figures for the most recent academic year include a period in spring 2021 when Covid-19 restrictions meant vulnerable children and children of key workers were attending school in person, with others being educated remotely.

Of the 16 possible reasons for exclusion, public health was the fourth most frequent.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the union, said exclusions are always a last resort – and have fallen to an all-time low across England – but should not mean the end of the road for pupils affected.

Mr Murch said: “People may think it’s extreme, they wouldn’t have thought it was extreme when lots of people were dying.”