More heads kick out less able pupils

ONE in four teachers have witnessed heads ejecting less clever pupils in order to push their schools up the league tables, Ofsted has revealed.

A poll of more than 1,000 teachers by the watchdog has found the practice, known as off-rolling, is becoming more prevalent – despite being illegal.

Shedding less able children ensures that their academic performance does not taint the school’s overall results. Often pupils are ejected just before they take their GCSEs, with impressionable parents persuaded to home-school them instead.

The poll found the main reason schools gave for off-rolling was a pupil having persistent behavioural issues. However, teachers said heads will sometimes exaggerate such incidents to build a case against a child they want off their hands.

Experts are concerned such children are ending up out on the streets, making them vulnerable to grooming by gangs. The YouGov survey for Ofsted found a quarter of teachers have seen off-rolling, and, of those, two-thirds believe the practice is more prevalent than it was five years ago. Half of teachers believe schools off-roll pupils for a better league table position.

Amanda Spielman, chief inspector of schools, said: ‘These are troubling findings … some [schools] are clearly pushing vulnerable pupils out through the back door with little thought to their best interests.’