Expulsions fall trend is bucked across North

The number of permanent exclusions from schools in England dropped for the first time in more than a decade in 2002-2003 to 9,290, according to the Department for Education and Skills.

In the North-East and North Yorkshire, permanent exclusions rose by more than seven per cent, from 540 pupils to 580.

Middlesbrough had the fewest number of pupils excluded based on the size of its school population, only 0.04 per cent of the total.

Darlington had the least number of actual exclusions, ten in 2002-2003.

Councillor Stephen Harker, Darlington Borough Council's cabinet member for education, said: "This is tremendous news and it is a credit to the improved skills of our teachers and the work being done by our schools to make them more inclusive."

The education authority with the biggest rise in actual exclusions was in North Yorkshire, which had 30 more than in the previous 12 months.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council said: "You have to see the bigger picture, which is that we educate about 85,000 pupils a day."

Last night, John Heslop, regional officer for the National Association of Headteachers, said headteachers were becoming more reluctant to exclude pupils because their decisions could be overturned by governors or appeal panels.

He said: "I think the national drop is based on a combination of factors, one of which is headteachers being in the invidious position of having their decisions overturned.

"But it is also true that the Government has acknow-ledged the very real problems which exist in terms of behaviour, and has made resources available to assist in dealing with them."

Education Minister Ivan Lewis said the national drop was a tribute to teachers.

He said: "We are getting the balance right, helping teachers to improve behaviour in the classroom and backing their authority when pupils' behaviour warrants exclusion.

"More than anything, the figures are a tribute to the professionalism of teachers."