Expulsions from secondary schools at an all-time high

Secondary schools were forced to expel pupils 7,990 times last year and issue 343,840 suspensions, according to official figures just released.

There has also been a sharp rise in the number of expelled pupils who were reinstated on appeal, against heads' wishes.

More than half of successful appeals result in the pupil going back to the same school.

The Department of Education statistics showed too many schools still have problems with bad behaviour, the Tories said.

Ministers were also accused of masking the true scale of indiscipline by failing to publish figures for academy schools where exclusion rates are higher.

But the Government said academies had never been included in the figures - and the increase in suspensions reflected the hard line schools were taking on bad behaviour.

The number of suspensions - or 'fixed period exclusions' - issued by secondary schools rose last year four per cent on 2004-05. Primary school figures are unavailable.

The average suspension lasted 3.5 days but in 13,120 cases it was longer than two weeks.

Almost half of pupils - 47 per cent - were sent home for violent or aggressive behaviour such as assaulting or threatening fellow pupils or staff.

Persistent disruptive behaviour accounted for 21 per cent of suspensions, vandalism three per cent, drugs and alcohol two per cent, theft two per cent and sexual misconduct - including sexual abuse and lewd behaviour - one per cent.

The figures also showed an increase in racist abuse. Suspensions for racism rose from 2,940 in 2004-05 to 3,370 last year and permanent exclusions stayed the same at 30.

Although the numbers of permanent exclusions fell from 9,440 in primary, secondary and special schools to 9,170, the expulsion rate was the same as 2004-05, at 12 pupils per 10,000. One reason for this is falling pupil numbers.

Boys were four times more likely to be expelled than girls and pupils aged 12 to 14-year-old most likely to find themselves barred from school.

Parents are winning a higher proportion of appeals against decisions by heads to expel their children - 24 per cent last year against 21 per cent in 2004-05.

Fewer parents lodged appeals but the numbers succeeding reached a four-year high.

The proportion of successful appeals which resulted in heads being forced to take back troublemakers rose from 49 per cent to 56 per cent. In 130 cases the pupil was sent back to the same classroom - against 110 in 2004-05.

Shadow Education Secretary, David Willetts, pledged to scrap independent appeals panels which send troublemakers back to class.

He said: "How can you possibly maintain order when a child that you have expelled from your school wins an appeal and is back in your classroom?"

Tory schools spokesman Nick Gibb added: "These figures show there is still a problem with pupil behaviour in our schools."

Dr John Dunford, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "Heads need and deserve better support than this if they are to maintain the standards of behaviour that society expects. It is undermining schools' ability to discipline."

The Liberal Democrats criticised ministers for failing to include academies in the data.

Schools spokesman Sarah Teather said: "By leaving them out the Government will have seriously altered the overall picture of school discipline."

But Schools Minister Jim Knight said: "The rise in fixed period exclusions reflects the tough approach schools are taking to address bad behaviour. They are using the short, sharp shock of a suspension to nip problem behaviour in the bud."

A teachers' union has called for mobile phones to be classed as potentially offensive weapons and banned from schools. Pupils were using handsets to spread offensive images of staff and bully them with unwanted calls and texts, said the NASUWT.