Video · Teachers Media
Sanctions
Sanctions — the negative consequences a school uses for rule-breaking — are one of the most contested and least evidence-based areas of school policy. Almost every teacher has views; the research is thinner than either enthusiasts or sceptics tend to admit.
About this video
The purposes of sanctions are usually stated as some combination of: deterrence (discouraging future misbehaviour), justice (a proportionate response to a wrong), protection (removing a pupil whose behaviour damages others' learning), and restoration (making things right after harm). Different school cultures weight these purposes differently, which is why the same incident can produce very different sanctions in different schools.
What the evidence broadly supports is: consistency matters more than severity (predictable, follow-through sanctions work better than harsher but variable ones); minor sanctions applied quickly and calmly work better than escalation cycles; sanctions work best when the teacher-pupil relationship is strong (a sanction from someone who visibly likes and respects the pupil lands differently than one from a stranger); and pure removal — sending a pupil out or excluding them — has poor long-term outcomes for the excluded pupil, even when it protects the rest of the class in the short term.
The most careful schools tend to build sanctions systems with several tiers, clear thresholds, restorative elements alongside punitive ones, and safeguards for pupils with SEND or vulnerable circumstances. The system is written down, applied consistently, reviewed periodically, and — critically — enacted with warmth rather than coldness. A sanction delivered with implicit respect is a different thing from a sanction delivered with contempt.
Principles for sanctions that actually work
- Consistency, not severity. Predictable is more powerful than harsh.
- Calm delivery. The tone of voice carries as much information as the sanction itself.
- Immediate over delayed where possible. The linkage between behaviour and consequence weakens with time.
- Restorative alongside punitive. Whenever possible, include an element of repair — the pupil doing something to make things right.
- Repair the relationship afterwards. The sanction is the consequence, not the whole of the interaction. Reset with the pupil later.
- SEND-aware. Some pupils need sanctions calibrated to their circumstances, and blanket "no excuses" can be unfair in ways that damage trust across the whole community.
Discussion prompts
- What is the sanction in your school that pupils most reliably respect? What makes it work?
- What is the sanction pupils game or ignore? What signal does that send about the underlying system?
- How does your school balance the deterrence purpose of sanctions with their impact on the individual pupil's relationship with school?
Try this in your classroom
- For a week, deliver every sanction with a calm, low voice and no anger. Notice how the interactions differ from your usual response.
- After you sanction a pupil, seek them out later for a 90-second reset. Note whether the next lesson with them goes differently.
- Audit your own sanction-giving: which pupils, for what behaviours, how often? Any patterns you'd want to change?