England schools recorded more than 13,000 suspensions for homophobic or transphobic abuse between 2020-21 and 2024-25, including 12,977 suspensions and 88 permanent exclusions. Suspensions tied to sexual orientation or gender identity rose from 193 in 2021 to 868 in the following year, reaching 1,085 in 2025. Between autumn 2021 and summer 2025, schools logged over 55,000 suspensions linked to racist abuse and 1,600 linked to ableist abuse. The upward trend has been linked to breakdowns in anti-bullying support and wider societal issues. The Department for Education described the figures as shocking and said it is providing expert support to tackle the problem.
"Department for Education data documenting the reasons for suspensions show that schools logged more than 13,000 instances of homophobic or transphobic abuse between the 2020-21 and 2024-25 school years. The figure includes 12,977 suspensions and 88 permanent exclusions."
"Instances of suspensions for abuse linked to sexual orientation or gender identity sat at just 193 in 2021 before sharply rising to 868 the following year. 2025 saw a whopping 1,085 instances. Between the autumn of 2021 and the summer of 2025, there were also more than 55,000 suspensions linked to racist abuse, and 1,600 for instances of ableist abuse."
"Kirsten Coutts, a mother whose autistic son Sam died by suicide following ableist bullying, told the BBC on 27 May that the figures are "horrifying but not surprising". "He asked how I'd feel if someone said everything about you is wrong, nothing about you is right," she said. "It's hard to articulate how any of this feels, there aren't any words - everyone is broken. I'm his mam and it goes against nature's plan.""
"Pepe Di'lasio, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, told the BBC that schools have been using suspensions as a "last resort". "The problems we are seeing are huge societal issues which cannot be solved solely in the classroom," Di'"
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