The statutory duty is not yours.
From the sixth school day of a suspension, the governing board must arrange suitable full-time education. For the first five days the edition in force from 26 July 2026 asks the headteacher to take steps to make sure work is set and marked — a “should” aimed at the head, not a legal duty landing on the class teacher. So “email work home by tonight” is your school’s decision about how to meet that expectation, not a statutory obligation on you.
updated 26 Jul 2026last checked 31 Aug 2026
What the source actually says
The first five days, in the current edition:
“It is important that during a suspension, pupils still receive their education. Headteachers should take steps to ensure that work is set and marked for pupils during the first five school days of a suspension.”
— 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 8 DfE
The same expectation, in weaker terms, after a permanent exclusion:
“For any permanent exclusion, headteachers should take reasonable steps to ensure that work is set and marked for pupils during the first five school days where the pupil will not be attending alternative provision.”
— 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 12 DfE
Where the statutory duty sits, and when it bites:
“For a suspension of more than five school days, the governing board (or local authority about a pupil suspended from a PRU) must arrange suitable full-time education for any pupil of compulsory school age. This provision is commonly called alternative provision and must begin no later than the sixth school day of the suspension.”
— 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 108 DfE
Before day six, DfE is explicit that the statutory duty has not yet started:
“Whilst the statutory duty on governing boards or local authorities is to arrange full-time education from the sixth day of a suspension or permanent exclusion, there is an obvious benefit to the pupil in starting this provision as soon as possible.”
— 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 113 DfE
There is also a category where no provision has to be arranged at all:
“Provision does not have to be arranged by either the school or the local authority for a pupil in the final year of compulsory education who does not have any further public examinations to sit.”
— 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 112 DfE
And sending a pupil home with online work does not sidestep the process:
“Any time a pupil is sent home due to disciplinary reasons and asked to log on or utilise online pathways should always be recorded as a suspension.”
— 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 8 DfE
Your school may still require it
Your school can lawfully ask you to set work from day one, and most do — it is how a headteacher meets the expectation in paragraph 8, and it is a reasonable instruction. The point is what it is: your school’s way of discharging a “should” DfE addresses to the headteacher, not a statutory duty on you personally. The obligation from day six belongs to the governing board, and arranging alternative provision is its job, not the class teacher’s.
See also Can a pupil be sent home to cool off? and Can anyone other than the headteacher exclude a pupil?.