A statement from the Department for Education reads: “Our regulations make clear that schools are not allowed to remove pupils from a sixth form because of academic attainment once they are enrolled. Excluding pupils temporarily or permanently for non-disciplinary reasons is unlawful.”
This confirms my view on the law after highlighting the case of 22 pupils most of whom were illegally forced out of Invicta Grammar School Sixth Form last summer, because they did not achieve high enough grades at the end of Year 12. Since the publication of A Level results this summer, I have been approached by families across the country who have also been thrown out of grammar and non-selective Sixth forms for not achieving similar illegal requirements, in particular several from St Olave’s Grammar in Orpington, a Voluntary Aided School sponsored by the Anglican Diocese of Rochester.
The DfE statement throws open a gaping hole in current practice, with thousands of children across the country being sacrificed in the drive to improve school league table positions. Every one of these should now know or be told their expulsion is illegal and they are entitled to resume their places in Year Thirteen.
The significance of the ruling can be seen by the interviews I was invited to give on the subject. I was live on the BBC News Channel and Radio Five Live, but also gave two interviews for The Guardian and was quoted in The Times. On Radio Five, I was challenged about what is wrong with ‘weeding out’ lower performing students and had to explain its illegality and the damage it does to students thrown out mid-course. It is becoming clear that this misbehaviour sees thousands of students have their school careers illegally terminated at the end of Year 12. It should be noted that the ruling does not apply to Sixth Form and other Colleges which have different regulations allowing this to happen, or private schools which are subject to their own agreements with parents.
On the BBC News Channel, I read out part of the testimony of a parent whose daughter had been wrongly excluded the previous summer at the end of Year 12. “What happened to our daughter has had a massive impact on her; she is still limping along. To be honest her confidence was so damaged we don't know if she will ever believe in herself in the same way again”. What an indictment of the practice, but certainly not alone, as career dreams are shattered.
The school website, which last year set out the academic requirements for entry to Year 13, now carries no such reference, suggesting it has discovered my interpretation of the law was correct. However, the school also boasts about its Outstanding A Level results, delivered on the back of seeing an alarming 15% of its pupil roll vanish in advance of these. I have had no similar contacts from Invicta families this year, suggesting the school has backed down in the knowledge of the illegality.
This is a super selective grammar school which has also taken pride in its Outstanding A Level results: “In a record year at St Olave’s Grammar School, students achieved a stunning 96% A*/B grades. A total of 75% of all grades were at A*/A, 3 percentage points up on last year’s. 32 students gained straight A* grades in at least 3 subjects”. I assume that the process of eliminating lower performing students has also occurred in previous years and so is an integral part of achieving such excellent results.
The Guardian has followed this story closely with a number of articles about the school, which have piled the pressure on government and brought about this outcome, including: (1); (2); (3).