Students suspended even for short spells fare worse at GCSEs, study finds

The study tracked one year group of more than 550,000 state school pupils in England from the start of year 7 until sitting GCSEs. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Children who are suspended from school in England even for short periods see their GCSE results suffer, according to research that highlights the need for early interventions to reduce suspensions.

Pupils who had been suspended were found to be lagging a year behind their peers and on average were unable to achieve a standard pass in GCSE maths and English.