Can I Appeal a School Exclusion in Wales?

Who this guide is for

Parents and carers in Wales whose child has been excluded from a maintained school or pupil referral unit, for a fixed term or permanently, and learners who have been excluded. If your child was 11 or over at the start of the school year and is of compulsory school age, both you and your child are told about the exclusion and can take part.

What this guide does not cover

• Schools in England, Scotland or Northern Ireland: see the England guide, the Scotland guide or the Northern Ireland guide.
• Independent (private) schools: ask a free adviser.
• Additional learning needs and individual development plans: see our SEND guide.
• School admissions appeals, attendance, bullying and complaints about a teacher: ask the school or your council.
• Disability discrimination claims: the England SEND tribunal cannot hear claims about schools in Wales. This guide does not cover where to claim or the time limit: ask Citizens Advice (Wales).
• The time limit for lodging an appeal: check your letters and ask the school or council.
• Police involvement and criminal charges: ask a solicitor.

What the rules depend on

1. Where is the school? Wales: this guide. England, Scotland and Northern Ireland have different rules and their own guides.
2. Is it a fixed-term or a permanent exclusion? Only a permanent exclusion can go to an independent appeal panel.
3. How many school days has your child been excluded this term? This decides whether the discipline committee must meet (see below).
4. How old is your child? Aged 10 or under at the start of the school year: you (the parent) are told and can take part. Aged 11 or over and of compulsory school age: both you and your child. Above compulsory school age: your child.

"My child has been excluded for a fixed term"

The headteacher must tell you straight away by phone and send a letter the same day. If your child is 11 or over, the headteacher must tell them too.

• More than 15 school days in the term: the discipline committee meets to consider reinstatement within 15 school days.
• 5 school days or fewer in the term: the discipline committee does not have to meet, unless the exclusion means your child would miss an exam. It must still consider anything you or your child send it in writing.
• At least 6 but not more than 15 school days in the term: if you make representations, the discipline committee meets to consider reinstatement within 50 school days.

If the exclusion is longer than 15 school days, the council must make sure your child gets full-time education from the 16th day, at another school, a pupil referral unit or somewhere else.

"My child has been permanently excluded"

The discipline committee meets to consider reinstatement within 15 school days. You, and your child if they are 11 or over, can put your views.

If the discipline committee upholds the permanent exclusion, you can appeal to an independent appeal panel arranged by the council. Check the discipline committee's letter for how and by when to appeal, and ask the council straight away if it is not clear.

The independent appeal panel

The panel must meet no later than the 15th school day after the day the appeal is lodged. It can:

• uphold the exclusion;
• direct that your child is reinstated, straight away or by a set date; or
• decide that, because of exceptional circumstances or for other reasons, it is not practical to order reinstatement, although reinstatement would otherwise have been right.

The panel's decision is binding on you, the governing body, the headteacher and the council. The panel will not order reinstatement just because a procedural rule was not followed.

Deadlines

• These deadlines count school days, not calendar days.
• Discipline committee (permanent exclusion, or more than 15 school days in a term): meets within 15 school days.
• Discipline committee (6 to 15 school days in a term, if you make representations): meets within 50 school days.
• Full-time education: from the 16th day of an exclusion longer than 15 school days.
• Independent appeal panel: meets no later than the 15th school day after the appeal is lodged.
• Lodging the appeal: use the last date in the discipline committee's letter.

Traps

• Wales is not England. In Wales the independent appeal panel can order your child back to school; in England a review panel cannot.
• In Wales, full-time education starts from the 16th day of a long exclusion, not the sixth day as in England.
• The appeal panel will not order reinstatement just because the school got the procedure wrong: the reasons for the exclusion matter.
• Schools must have regard to the Welsh Government guidance "Exclusion from schools and pupil referral units" (guidance document 294/2024, April 2024).