Teacher 'pays' troublemakers to stay away

Troublemaking pupils are being offered £100 bribes to skip school during inspections, according to a survey of teachers.

A teacher in a school described as a "hell-hole" discovered his deputy head in the playground with a fistful of £20 notes to distribute to those pupils not required on inspection days.

Other action apparently taken by schools to secure the best ranking include encouraging weaker teachers to take sick leave and sending one newly-qualified teacher home on a disciplinary notice.

The stories emerged when the Times Educational Supplement posed the question "the worst thing your school has done because of an Ofsted inspection" on its website. It received 110 submissions in a month.

Another example centred on a piece of artwork that was highly praised during a school inspection, which was then loaned to neighbouring schools.

Ofsted described the figures as "disappointing". It said it had received 38 complaints about school misconduct during an eight-month period last year.

The Education Secretary Michael Gove has expressed his concern over schools encouraging students to play truant on inspection days, and would like "no notice" visits whereby inspectors arrive unannounced.