Sunderland school prom ban targets disabled kids as backlash grows

A school in Sunderland has banned students from attending the prom for not meeting ridiculous attendance targets, in a clear attack on disabled and chronically ill students.

According to the Independent: 

Kepier Academy in Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland, told students last year that if they failed to hit attendance targets for each term they would not be eligible for the leavers’ party in June.

The criteria was 96 per cent attendance from September to January, 97 per cent from February to mid-March and 100 per cent from mid-March to April. It also included requirements on behaviour and homework.

Prom is an event that many students look forward to, celebrating the end of their time at school. Yet, according to the BBC, the school told at least 30 students they are not allowed to attend.

To hit 97% attendance, you would have to take off no more than five days in one school year. This means the school is automatically discriminating against any child who is disabled or chronically ill.

One surgery or hospital stay would quickly use up those five days. Moreover, a couple of bouts of illness or a flare-up of a chronic condition would easily be more than five days. The result? The school would automatically exclude that child from the prom.

A mother of a chronically ill child told the Independent that her son is under a hospital consultant and was:

undergoing tests and missing school due to sickness.

She told the Independent that:

Once he was punished [told he cannot go to the prom] for that his behaviour just became worse as he thought there was no point.

Meanwhile, another mother in Sunderland explained to the BBC that her daughter had mental health problems. This had affected her ability to keep up with her homework. Consequently, her mother said that the school’s exclusion of her from the prom had made her daughter feel “she wasn’t worthy”.

The BBC also reported students being penalised for forgetting a pen or a ruler. Which is nothing short of an attack on poor people. 

Fascism in action .

Children in tears over school prom ban for lack of attendance and homework – The Independent https://t.co/s9j0oMHUP8

— John Ashton ( you, us, I) (@Johnrashton47) June 10, 2025

Ableism in Sunderland

This is even more messed up after a global pandemic, where everyone became more aware of the importance of isolating when sick.

Ultimately, this will encourage the parents of non-disabled and chronically ill kids to send them to school, even when they are unwell. The school is putting the lives of disabled or chronically ill students at risk.

It’s nothing short of an albeist, elitist policy. Of course, this mandatory attendance penalty forms part of the broader systemic ableism, classism, and racism which is rife in the education system. From schools repeatedly failing SEND children, to racist, classist exclusions, and punitive disregard for neurodivergence in the classroom. This policy is one more barrier to school for marginalised students. Every child deserves an educational environment that’s safe, supportive, and helps them to thrive. Denying students prom to arbitrarily bring up school attendance figures, sure as hell isn’t it.

Feature image via the Canary