Guidance, policy documents, protocols or frameworks currently provides, or has provided to educational settings concerning pupil exclusion.

1) I am requesting copies of any guidance, policy documents, protocols or frameworks that your local authority currently provides, or has provided since January 2021, to educational settings in your area concerning pupil exclusion.

For the purposes of this request, relevant settings include state-funded primary schools, state-funded secondary schools, special schools, sixth form colleges, further education colleges, and others.

 

I am interested in any local authority guidance, protocol or framework on the use of fixed-term suspensions or permanent exclusions, including any model exclusion policy, inclusion guidance or policies, or template the LA provides to settings for adoption or adaptation.



2) I would also like any guidance on when exclusion is or is not the appropriate response to a serious incident - in particular incidents involving weapons or knives - and any guidance on managed moves as an alternative to permanent exclusion, including the criteria and process involved.



3) Please also include any guidance on alternative provision placements (covering how settings are advised to use AP and when it is offered as an alternative to exclusion), any Fair Access Protocol operated by your authority, and any guidance on reintegration support following a suspension or return from alternative provision.

 

4) I would also like any specific guidance your authority provides to settings on how they should respond when a pupil is found in possession of a knife or other offensive weapon on the premises, including when a setting should refer such an incident to the LA's designated safeguarding officer, the Youth Justice Service, or children's social care.

4a) Please include any local multi-agency protocol on knife crime or serious youth violence that sets out responsibilities for educational settings, and any LA-issued guidance on the use of metal detectors or search powers.

 

5) For each document you identify, please provide the date it was published or most recently reviewed, whether it is currently in active use or has been superseded, whether it is mandatory for maintained settings or advisory, and whether it is also shared with academies, free schools, independent schools or FE colleges in your area.

 

6) If your authority does not produce its own exclusion guidance but signposts settings solely to statutory DfE guidance, please state this clearly. If any documents are available publicly on your website, a link is sufficient in place of the document itself. Documents produced or in use at any point since January 2021 are within scope, including those that have since been superseded.

1-6. Suspension and permanent exclusion guidance published Aug 2024 and reviewed July 2026 Lincolnshire refer solely to the statutory exclusion guidance.

https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/support-education/pupil-reintegration-team/3

https://trixcms.trixonline.co.uk/api/assets/lincolnshirescp/44f213aa-e171-4f33-b1d1-b3f4281d70e7/banned-items-lincs-schools.pdf Current version January 2026 advisory and is available on Lincolnshire County Council website.

https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/support-education/pupil-reintegration-team/4 produced in accordance with the statutory Department for Education (DfE) guidance as above.

https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/downloads/file/2606/fair-access-protocol - mandatory for maintained schools and academies and reviewed every two years.

https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/support-education/pupil-reintegration-team/2 revised September 2025