Schools 'must take expelled pupils'

All schools will be forced to take their share of disruptive pupils, Ed Balls, the Education Secretary, has announced.

Headteachers who expel students for bad behaviour will be expected to fill the vacancy with a child who has been expelled from another school on a "one out, one in" basis.

Mr Balls said yesterday that he would change the law at the earliest opportunity to require all state schools to work in "behaviour partnerships" with their neighbours to support troublesome pupils.

The announcement came as a report from the Government's behaviour adviser, Sir Alan Steer, concluded that a voluntary drive had seen some schools – particularly the Government's flagship academies and foundation schools – fail to do their fair share.

Mr Balls said he wanted schools to "pool resources" to deal with "problem pupils" and work together to intervene early to stop children going off the rails.

He acknowledged that standards of behaviour continued to be a cause for concern. Speaking at the NASUWT teachers' union annual conference in Birmingham, he said: "It is only by schools working together that we will be able to deal with this issue."