This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

One in four teachers in England say they have witnessed pupils being illegitimately removed from schools, often to artificially boost a school’s performance, according to a new survey published by Ofsted.

The figures suggest the practice, known as “off-rolling” – pupils being shunted off a school’s roll in order to manipulate its exam results or rankings in league tables – is widespread, despite three-quarters of teachers saying they have not seen or heard of the practice.

Some reported that parents who were seen as “an easy touch or not well-educated” were approached informally and told it “will be difficult for their child to stay”, in the hope the parents agreed to moving or home-schooling their child.

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Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders which represents many secondary school headteachers, said the figures indicated that off-rolling was more common than realised.

“Our experience is that the vast majority of school leaders deplore off-rolling. Nevertheless, the findings of this study are worrying and we support any action to put a stop to off-rolling,” Barton said.

Although only a quarter of teachers questioned said they had witnessed the practice, a further 50% said they were aware of it. Teachers interviewed as part of the survey said league tables were a “key driver” of off-rolling, with schools feeling under pressure from parents, the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofsted.

“These are troubling findings. While not every school is off-rolling, teachers tell us that some are clearly pushing vulnerable pupils out through the back door with little thought to their next steps and best interests,” said Amanda Spielman, Ofsted’s chief inspector.

Spielman said that Ofsted’s new inspection regime, coming into effect in September, includes sanctions for schools found to be off-rolling, by rating their leadership as inadequate.

Half of the more than 1,000 teachers surveyed said the real reason for most off-rolling was to achieve or maintain a high position on league tables, such as those based on GCSE or Sats results. Some 20% said it could also be to avoid having to formally exclude pupils, and around 15% said was to win a high Ofsted grade.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We will continue working with Ofsted to define and tackle the practice of off-rolling, which is not legal and should not be happening.”

The report comes as the DfE published the Timpson review into exclusions, with the former education minister Edward Timpson saying off-rolling as “quite simply wrong” but describing it as rare.

Timpson’s report has been heavily criticised for failing to account for the higher exclusion rates suffered by black Caribbean or Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) families, and for overlooking racial prejudices and stereotypes as likely explanations.

In a letter published in the Guardian, representatives from groups including the Caribbean and African Health Network and Friends, Families and Travellers said that Timpson’s review had made little effort to consult with the race equality sector, while none of the report’s 30 recommendations dealt with race.

“Racial disparities in exclusions has been a long-term issue and is getting worse with deep cuts in the education sector,” the letter states.

Zubaida Haque, of the Runymede Trust, one of the signatories to the letter, said the groups were shocked at how little attention Timpson’s report gave to racial discrimination in school exclusions.

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“Given that differences in exclusion rates remain between black Caribbean or Gypsy and Roma children and other children, even after taking account of other factors, it is astonishing that the Timpson’s review did not explore the reasons behind these disparities further,” Haque said.

“Exclusions are only part of the story and we need to consider the experiences and journeys for black Caribbean and GRT children within schools.

“We know that black Caribbean and GRT children experience considerable racist abuse and bullying in schools, and there are many issues with teacher stereotypes about children from these ethnic backgrounds, including issues with school attainment, learning assessments and streaming.

“There are also issues in relation to the low proportions of black and minority ethnic teachers, senior leaders and headteachers in primary and secondary schools, and the history and migration patterns of ethnic minority pupils is still poorly reflected in the school curriculum.

“But none of these factors were considered or highlighted in Timpson’s exclusion review.”