Excluded lives special issue

ABSTRACT Prevention of school exclusion is a major UK policy concern in the COVID-19 era of economic uncertainty, speculation about the possible futures for social cohesion, and alarming reports about the prevalence of children’s mental health difficulties and eroded sense of well-being and security. This Special Issue on school exclusion is drawn from the work of the multi-disciplinary and cross-jurisdictional research group Excluded Lives, founded in Oxford in 2014 and now involving the universities of Cardiff, Edinburgh, Oxford, Queen’s Belfast and the LSE. It adopts a broad view of exclusion including those who are excluded legally and illegally and those who go missing from school. The papers in this special issue represent perspectives on school exclusion across the four UK jurisdictions and from different disciplinary perspectives.