When in March 2020 schools were closed as part of the COVID-19 restrictions, the Excluded Lives Research Team were planning surveys of students, caregivers and practitioners about their experiences and understanding of school exclusion.
Without access to schools this could not happen and as the period of closure lengthened the team realised that COVID-19 was itself likely to significantly impact children and young people’s perceptions of school and their relationship with education, which in turn could bring new exclusion risks.