Not informally.
Sending a pupil home without a formal suspension is listed by DfE as an example of off-rolling — and it stays unlawful even if the parents agreed to it. A suspension of half a day is perfectly permissible, but the formal process has to be followed and it has to be recorded and confirmed to parents in writing. “Just have a day at home” is the version that gets a school into trouble, not the paperwork.
updated 15 Jun 2026last checked 28 Jul 2026
What the source actually says
Short suspensions are fine; skipping the process is not:
“Suspending a pupil for a short period of time, such as half a day, is permissible but the formal suspension process must still be followed.”
— Suspension and permanent exclusion from maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England, including pupil movement, DfE, edition in force from 26 July 2026, para 19 DfE
Parental agreement does not cure it. Among DfE’s listed examples of off-rolling:
“sending a pupil home without a formal suspension regardless of whether it occurs with the agreement of parents”
— same source, para 21 DfE
And on recording:
“Any exclusion of a pupil, even for short periods, must be formally recorded.”
— same source, para 20 DfE
Your school may still require it
Your school can lawfully require you to use internal alternatives — a withdrawal room, an internal exclusion, a call home, a senior leader collecting the pupil — and to complete the school’s own paperwork for any of them. Those are school choices and you can be directed to follow them. What no one can direct you to do is send a pupil off site on disciplinary grounds without the formal suspension process behind it.
See also Can anyone other than the headteacher exclude a pupil? and Do I have to set work for a suspended pupil?.