Qld high school suspensions: Which schools top the state's list

An exclusive analysis of three years of disciplinary data for every Queensland high school reveals the state’s worst behaved students. USE THE INTERACTIVES

An exclusive analysis of school data reveals Queensland's worst behaved high school students.

• Full list of primary schools

Almost 1500 state high school students were excluded last year while more than 51,000 disciplinary absences were handed out, with experts blaming smoking, drugs and alcohol as the main causes.

An exclusive Courier-Mail analysis can for the first time reveal the worrying trends of suspensions and exclusions at many Queensland high schools over three years.

Collinsville State High School, located in the Whitsundays, issued 94 suspensions and two exclusions in 2024 despite just having 113 students.

It had the highest rate of disciplinary absences among Queensland’s 341 state high schools, and recorded a dramatic increase on the previous two years, rising from 45 in 2022 and 84 in 2023.

Teacher’s Professional Association Queensland President Scott Stanford said while the trends were concerning, suspensions rates could appear higher due to improved transparency around reporting and more measures to protect teachers.

“It’s important to note that those 96 suspensions (at Collinsville State High School), for example, could be 30 children suspended three times,” he said.

Other high schools to record spikes in disciplinary absences include Tullawong State High School at Caboolture – from 273 in 2022 to 539 last year – and Yarrahbah State School – from 51 in 2022 to 140 last year.

Overall, the 51,245 disciplinary absences recorded across Queensland high schools last year were down on the three-year high of 59,773 in 2023.

But Mr Stanford said that did not necessarily mean behaviour among high school students was improving.

“Behaviour, I believe, is getting worse – we need to start looking at the way children are being brought up and their value systems,” he said.

Marsden State High, with a student enrolment of 3823, recorded the most disciplinary absences with 881, down from 976 the year prior, closely followed by Bremer State High at 593 (total student enrolment of 1925).

While there were alarming spikes, many schools managed to bring suspensions and exclusions down, including Ipswich State High, with 593 last year down compared with 912 in 2022.

Queensland Secondary Principals’ Association President Mark Breckenridge said suspending and excluding students was, more often than not, a last resort.

“Principals will try everything else before removing a student from school for a period of time,” he said.

Mr Breckenridge said if any behaviour was a danger to the physical or mental wellbeing of others, principals needed to take appropriate steps.

“Principals have an obligation to maintain a safe and orderly learning and working environment,” he said.

Originally published as Qld high school suspensions: Which schools top the state's list