Restraint, seclusion and isolation rooms in schools and colleges, recorded from the inquest, the tribunal, the regulator’s notice and the civil claim. Each entry says what happened, what went wrong, and where the evidence stops.
Every page states its confidence and what could not be verified. No child is named at any age. A member of staff is named only where they were convicted or a published regulator determination named them. Where a case is still live, we hold it.
Publications, statistics and guidance sit on the same shelf under a Publication label, because a national count is not an incident.
37 case entries and 1 publication.
A teaching assistant who hit, pinched and spat at pupils
Over almost two years she hit, pinched and spat at children at a special school in Kent. A jury convicted her of four counts of child cruelty.
PublicationScotland puts school restraint guidance into statute, but not in nurseries
A Member's Bill passed unopposed and became an Act on 26 May 2026, requiring statutory guidance and a duty to tell parents and record each incident. Nurseries are…
A pupil bullied by boys in her year, and a school that answered with new posts
A 14-year-old was bullied by male classmates. After her death her school added staff, systems and surveys; the pupils said nobody asked them.
Quashed by a review panel, then upheld again on reconsideration
A pupil was excluded, a review panel quashed that decision, and a reconstituted committee reached the same result.
A pupil died after another pupil threw food at him
A 13-year-old with a known dairy allergy died of anaphylaxis after a classmate threw cheese at him. The inquest produced twelve matters of concern, most of them about…
A toddler held face-down at nursery to make him sleep
A 14-month-old boy died after a practitioner restrained him face-down at nap time. The judge found the practice was accepted across the setting.
Swaddled, harnessed and left face down for ninety minutes
A nine-month-old was swaddled, harnessed face down on a bean bag and left for ninety minutes in a nursery baby room. The worker was convicted of manslaughter.
A knife brought into school, and a pupil killed at lunchtime
A 15-year-old was killed at school by a fellow pupil who brought a knife in that day. A friend knew and asked for it; no adult route existed…
A pupil stabbed two teachers and another pupil, then staff restrained her
A 13-year-old used a bladed multi-tool in a Carmarthenshire school. The jury found she meant to kill.
A five-year-old killed at the school gate at home time
A pupil was struck by a car waiting to cross outside her school gate. The inquest produced a Regulation 28 warning, and the council rebuilt the road.
A lake swim, a form with three boxes, and no lifeguard
A seventeen-year-old drowned on a school rugby tour. The coroner called the risk assessment inadequate and asked for swimming tests before trips.
Ill for the whole trip, and nobody saw how ill
She was seventeen, on a school history trip to New York, and died of sepsis. The coroner found no gross failings, and wrote to every school.
An inclusion officer was stabbed by a pupil she had been asked to help
Friends had raised concern about the pupil in year 9. The concern was passed to others, and no plan is recorded.
The care plan the lunch staff never read
A nine-year-old with food allergies died after lunch at school. The jury found neglect; his plan never reached the kitchen.
Ten minutes on the bus before anyone called 999
Four seizure-type episodes in five years, no diagnosis, and no one had told the coach operator. The coroner found nothing required the driver to be trained.
The evacuation plan was a minibus
A 17-year-old collapsed trekking in Morocco in 39C heat. The coroner found nobody had arranged an ambulance with medical staff on board.
The risk assessment was never written, and the claim still failed
A teacher was punched by a pupil twice in seven weeks. The Court of Appeal found the school had broken its own rules, then dismissed the claim on…
An exclusion sent by email, three days before a student died
A 17-year-old with ADHD was excluded and told by email. At his inquest the coroner found nothing showing anyone knew his mental health care had ended.
Three pupils, 154 days out of class, and no breach of the law
Three pupils challenged the accumulation of isolation days at a Leeds academy. The court held section 91 judges each sanction, not the pattern.
The safeguarding file that did not arrive before she started college
Autistic, seventeen, and at known risk of suicide, she began a new college without the file that would have told staff so.
Three face-down restraints and a towel across the door
Held face down three times and penned in with a towel. Two courts took different views of the towel.
Dragged by the hand across the dining hall floor
An early years teacher moved two distressed children by force in one lunchtime, overruled a colleague who tried to stop her, and told her she was the boss.
Excluded for behaviour the law called a tendency to abuse
An autistic pupil was excluded for a day and a half. The tribunal never reached whether that was fair, because the law said the pupil was not disabled.
Held by the wrist for a few seconds, then barred from teaching
Two wrist holds, one to secure compliance. Neither left a mark. Both ended a career.
In the internal exclusion room, a care plan nobody had read
A 14-year-old with asthma and a food allergy collapsed in his school's internal exclusion room. The adult supervising him had not read his care plan.
Ten months out of school while his exclusion was argued in court
A pupil was out of school for ten months after a suspected arson. Five years later the House of Lords found for the school.
Three strokes with a gym shoe, three days after the decision
A seven-year-old was slippered under an automatic demerit system at an independent boarding school. The Strasbourg court held the state answerable, but found no breach of Article 3.
A lone teacher took the knife from a pupil and was cut doing it
He asked her to check his work, then stabbed her. She took the knife off him and was cut.
A school coach, fifty pupils and no duty to check the belts
The pupil who died was probably belted. Most of the coach was not, and no one was legally required to check.
Permanently excluded at ten over a knife nobody examined
A primary academy excluded a ten-year-old with autism and ADHD after he handed another child a replica knife. The High Court quashed it: the decision asserted the legal…