No.
Only the headteacher can suspend or permanently exclude a pupil on disciplinary grounds. A head of year, a deputy, a head of department or a classroom teacher cannot — whatever the school calls it. If you are asked to “exclude” a pupil yourself, the decision is not yours to make and the paperwork is not yours to sign. You can send a pupil to a senior leader; only the head can turn that into a suspension.
updated 26 Jul 2026last checked 25 Aug 2026
What the source actually says
“Only the headteacher14 of a school can suspend or permanently exclude a pupil on disciplinary grounds. A pupil may be suspended for one or more fixed periods (up to a maximum of 45 school days in a single academic year) or permanently excluded.”
— Suspension and permanent exclusion from maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England, including pupil movement, DfE statutory guidance, edition in force from 26 July 2026, para 1, “The headteacher’s powers to use exclusion” DfE
The “14” is the document’s own footnote marker, kept here because the quote is reproduced as printed.
The guidance is statutory, and it says whose functions it binds:
“The document also provides statutory guidance3 to which headteachers, governing boards, local authorities, academy trusts, independent review panel (IRP) members and … special educational needs (SEN) experts, social workers and Virtual School Heads (VSHs) must have regard when carrying out their functions in relation to suspensions and permanent exclusions.”
— Suspension and permanent exclusion from maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England, including pupil movement, DfE statutory guidance, edition in force from 26 July 2026, “About this guidance”, p.3–4 DfE
The list is of decision-makers and reviewers. A classroom teacher is not on it, and neither is a head of year.
Your school may still require it
Your school can lawfully require you to refer a pupil to a senior leader, to write up an incident, to attend a reintegration meeting or to follow an internal “on call” process, and can direct you to do so promptly. What it cannot do is delegate the decision itself. If a colleague other than the head tells you a pupil “has been excluded”, the formal decision still has to come from the headteacher.
See also Can a pupil be sent home to cool off? and Do I have to set work for a suspended pupil?.