A PRIVATE school in Madrid has ordered a pupil to leave because his brother appealed against his exam results.

The school said they felt relations had broken down as a result of the appeal and that it would be better if both brothers left to avoid a situation of “permanent contradiction”.

“I believe they have treated me badly as a parent,” said Eduardo Barrecheguren, whose elder son had been attending the private school for 12 years and his youngest son for five.

In July he received a letter from the headteacher, Elena Florez, asking him to withdraw his children from the school.

“The attitude you have adopted following the school’s decision makes collaboration between your family and the school impossible ... for this reason we consider that our relationship must end,” the lette said.

The headteacher objected to the father’s decision to appeal to the school inspectorate after his 14-year-old son failed four subjects and was told he would have to repeat the year.

On August 20, the inspectorate ruled that two of the four subjects should be considered pass grades and told the school that they had to allow the boy to continue.

Shortly afterwards, the head wrote to the father, adding that “if you appeal against us...if you are so unhappy with us, it seems contradictory that the children continue here”.

The father believes the school has acted illegally, but has decided not to appeal further as “it could take three years”. He has decided to refer the case to the children’s ombudsman because, he said: “I don’t want the same thing to happen to another child.”