Head teachers have warned that any attempt to cut the number of pupils excluded could affect safety in schools, after the mayor of London appointed a consultant who was responsible for reducing suspensions in Glasgow.
The government’s school behaviour expert recently criticised Ofsted for telling an academy trust that its exclusion rate was too high.
Sadiq Khan, however, has appointed Maureen McKenna, an education expert, to his violence reduction unit after she helped to cut fixed-term exclusions in Glasgow by 90 per cent over 14 years.
Critics say that there has been a surge in violence in schools in Scotland and Jenny Gilruth, the Scottish education secretary, announced an emergency summit on the issue.
Many Scottish teachers say that behaviour has deteriorated markedly since lockdown.
