The Autism Helpline is unable to provide detailed legal advice in individual cases. When a child is excluded, either for a fixed term or permanently, the parents should be notified of the reasons for the exclusion and are entitled to appeal against this. A fixed term exclusion is exactly what it says. An exclusion which lasts for a fixed period of time which is decided before the exclusion begins. Schools are not allowed to exclude a pupil for more than 45 days in each school year.
Some schools describe fixed term exclusions as 'suspensions'.
A fixed term exclusion does not need to be for the whole school day, it may be deemed necessary for certain lessons or for lunch hours only. Where this occurs, the guidance mentioned above states that it should not last for more than five days. In that time the school should establish either extra support to meet the child's needs or make a decision about whether the school placement is right for the child in the long term. A permanent exclusion means that the pupil will not be allowed to return to the school they have been excluded from unless they manage to overturn the exclusion decision on appeal, or the schools Discipline Committee decide the child should be reinstated. Permanent exclusions should only be used as a last resort, where other approaches have failed and where serious breaches of the schools disciplinary code have occurred.