Evidence about the scale of the problem, published by the commissioner today, found that schools have been illegally excluding pupils because they do not know the law.
The commissioner's report included a survey of 1,000 teachers that found 6.7 per cent of schools had sent children home illegally and 2.1 per cent had recorded pupils as being "educated elsewhere" or "authorised absent" when the school had actively encouraged the child not to return.
When asked about the legalities of falsifying attendance records, 24 per cent of teachers said they did not know the law and 31 per cent were unaware that it was illegal to encourage a parent to educate their child at home.
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