A poor black boy with special educational needs is 168 times more likely to be excluded from school than a richer white girl without them according to the Children’s Commissioner for England, Maggie Atikinson.

Publishing findings from its School Exclusions Inquiry in the report They Never Give Up On You, the Commissioner produced a promotional film on school exclusions which asks:

How can a system be fair when a white boy is 2.4 times more likely to be excluded than a white girl, a white boy with special educational needs is 30 times more likely to be excluded than a white girl without them, when a poor white boy with special educational needs is 60 times more likely to be excluded from school than a richer white girl without them, when a poor black boy with special educational needs is 168 times more likely to be excluded from school than a richer white girl without them ?”

According to the Commissioner, exclusions can affect boys like a life sentence that locks them out of future opportunities.