The law

Any decision of a headteacher, including suspension or permanent exclusion, must be made in line with the principles of administrative law, that is to say, it is:

• lawful with respect to the legislation relating directly to suspensions and permanent exclusions and a school’s wider legal duties
• reasonable
• fair
• proportionate.

When establishing the facts in relation to a suspension or permanent exclusion decision, the headteacher must apply the civil standard of proof, that is to say, ‘on the balance of probabilities’ it is more likely than not that a fact is true, rather than the criminal standard of ‘beyond reasonable doubt.’

This means that the headteacher should accept that something happened if it is more likely that it happened than that it did not happen.

Page last updated: 4 November 2024