Headteachers must ensure excluded pupils stay in full-time education to prevent them joining gangs

Alternative provision can become dangerous for students placed in them, report warns

Knife crime has nearly doubled since 2014, leading parents to warn their children about it from as young as seven years old (PA)

Headteachers should make sure excluded pupils enter full-time education to reduce the risk of them joining gangs, a report from a government-funded panel has said.

School exclusions escalate the risk of criminals coercing teenagers into knife crime and drug trafficking, according to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.

Permanent exclusions have been described as a “tipping point” for children to encounter greater risk of harm, particularly if pupils were left waiting for months for alternative provision to be found.