NATIONAL figures from the Department for Education show that 6,685 pupils were permanently excluded from schools in 2015/16, marking a 40 per cent increase over the past three years.

A study by the Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank published recently said that 48,000 pupils were being educated in the alternative provision sector, which caters for excluded pupils.

It reported that thousands more were leaving school rolls in what appeared to be illegal exclusions, where parents were in effect being encouraged by head teachers to register their child as being home educated.

The resulting social and economic costs to the state are certain to be huge: each cohort of permanently excluded pupils will go on to trigger significant future spending on education, health, benefits and criminal justice over their lifetimes.

More than half of UK prisoners had been previously excluded from schools.

Schools are under increasing pressure to compete in league tables and exam results. Equally, the remorseless process of converting schools into academies, typified by what is going on in York, has meant a reduced role for local authorities in managing and monitoring exclusions.

Could these be contributory factors in explaining the worrying hike in exclusions over the past three years?

Neil Burke, Middle Street, Wilberfoss