Labour have pledged to hold schools to account for the performance of pupils who are off-rolled.

The party’s proposal, announced by shadow education secretary Angela Rayner today, would mean that the results of a pupil who leaves a school’s roll would remain with the school until they have a permanent place elsewhere.

In June, Ofsted said it had identified 300 schools that had lost unusually large numbers of pupils between Year 10 and their GCSEs.

Labour said its plan would remove perverse incentives for schools to lose pupils who could harm their exams results, and ensure they are motivated to ensure that excluded pupils get the best provision possible.

The government included similar proposals in Nicky Morgan’s 2016 White Paper Education Excellence Everywhere, but they were never brought in.

‘Perverse incentives’ for off-rolling

Ms Rayner said: “We must all take responsibility for our most vulnerable children, and that is why we will be reforming the accountability system to support them, while working with schools to move towards a system that is co-operative and does not drive workload, and giving them the resources they need to support all their pupils.

“That is why Labour will close the loopholes and end the perverse incentives. This will ensure that there is no unintended reward for so-called off-rolling and give schools an investment in ensuring that excluded pupils move on to the best possible provision.”

Labour also said it would close a funding loophole that allows schools to continue to receive funding for pupils between the date they leave the roll to be home educated and the next school census.

The government launched a call for evidence on home education in April, which included the option of changing this system.

The Department for Education is currently considering the submissions it received.