A report has called on the Government to invest in more affordable housing to reduce the number of pupils repeatedly moving schools.

The Government needs to invest in more affordable homes to cut down on the huge number of children constantly moving schools in the capital, according to a report from the Association of London Government.

In Breaking Point: Examining the Disruption Caused by Pupil Mobility in London, the association says "the significant shortage of affordable rented housing is directly responsible for high levels of pupil movement in some schools".

Jo Mennell, who wrote the report for the association called it a "frustrating and avoidable cause".

Sir Robin Wales, chair of the Association of London Government called on the Government to "fund more social housing for homeless families".

"This would mean permanent homes and some sense of stability for the 73,000 children currently living in temporary housing in London," he said.

The charity Shelter revealed that homeless children in temporary accommodation miss out on a quarter of their schooling.

A spokeswoman for the charity said: "We hope that this report will put pressure on the Government to increase the level of social housing in the capital. Without this a record number of homeless families and children in emergency housing will continue to have their futures blighted."

Mobile pupils are more likely to require support and have higher educational needs, yet they are often in the schools that have to cope with the greatest number of children with English as an additional language and special educational needs.

This is because places are more likely to be available in schools with the most challenging pupil needs.

Despite these extra pressures, the schools and education authorities, which bear the brunt of constant pupil movement, get no additional funding from central government.

More money is needed to help schools cope with the issue of mobile pupils, Sir Robin added.

FACT BOX

- The report is based on information from 67 primary and secondary schools in 23 London boroughs

- The report found that some schools have a 60 per cent turnover of pupils in a single year

- The report can be obtained from Sarah Wulff-Cochrane on 020 7934 9632 or downloaded from www.alg.gov.uk/upload/public/

attachments/474/ALG_mobility_report_final.pdf.