How the panel decides

Summary: This page explains how the independent review panel (IRP) looks at the evidence and the tests it uses to make its decision.

How the panel looks at the evidence

The panel uses the balance of probabilities.

This means it decides whether it is more likely than not that something happened.

It looks at each incident separately.

What the panel can decide

The panel can make one of these decisions:

• uphold the permanent exclusion – it stays in place
• recommend the governing board reconsider the decision – the board must look again, but does not have to reinstate your child
• quash (cancel) the decision and direct the governing board to reconsider if your child should return to the school – the governing board must look again, but still does not have to reinstate your child

The panel will only quash a decision if it finds a serious problem with how the school made it.

The tests the panel uses

The panel applies 3 legal tests.

1. Illegality

The school acted outside its powers.

2. Irrationality

The decision was so unreasonable that no sensible person would have made it.

3. Procedural unfairness

The process was seriously unfair.

This may include:

• bias
• not giving you the chance to share your views
• making a decision without hearing from you
• not giving reasons
• the headteacher who excluded your child being involved in the final decision

Other action the panel may take

The panel may ask the school to add a note to your child’s record.

What the panel cannot do

The independent review panel (IRP) has limited powers. It checks whether the governing board made the right decision. It does not look at the case again from the start.

The IRP cannot:

1. Reinstate your child

The panel cannot order the school to take your child back.

It can only:

• uphold the exclusion
• recommend the governing board reconsider
• quash (cancel) the decision and direct the governing board to look at it again

Even if the panel quashes the decision, the governing board does not have to reinstate your child.

2. Remove the exclusion from your child’s school record

A permanent exclusion stays on your child’s record whatever the panel decides. The IRP cannot remove it.

3. Decide whether discrimination took place

The panel can check whether the governing board followed discrimination law. But it cannot decide if discrimination actually happened.

If you want to make a discrimination claim, you must go to:

• the First-tier Tribunal (disability discrimination)
• the County Court (other types of discrimination)

4. Hold a new hearing or investigate the case again

The panel does not:

• re-investigate the incident
• look for new evidence
• rehear the case as if it were new

It only checks whether the governing board’s decision was:

• legal
• reasonable
• fair

5. Look at new issues the governing board could not consider

The IRP only looks at what the governing board knew and considered at the time. It cannot consider new issues that were not part of the decision-making process.

Your child’s school record

The permanent exclusion and panel decision will stay on your child’s school record whatever the panel decides.