Schools have been complaining for years that Government league tables do not provide a fair picture of the quality of their teaching.

After all, they say, we can't choose which pupils we take in. If we happen to have more difficult pupils than other places, we're not going to top the table, however good we are.

In the case of Elgar Technology College in Bilford Avenue, Worcester, they may have a point.

It seems pupils permanently excluded from other schools have been ending up at Elgar - and as the only school in Worcester with spare capacity, it is not allowed to say no.

This begs a number of questions.

One: What should we do with excluded pupils?

The law says a child must be educated, but if a pupil has been thrown out of one school, what is the point of simply inflicting them on another one? There must be places where pupils can be taught where they can't stop others from learning.

Two: If you are going to shunt problem pupils on to another school, why put them all in the same one?

The school's league table position suffers, other parents panic and before you know it you have a sink school on your hands.

Three: Is everyone using the same criteria for excluding pupils?

Expulsion should be a last resort. If a pupils assaults a teacher, he or she should be out. But we should not be excluding children for things such as uniform violations.

The whole question of excluding pupils should be looked at by education chiefs - for everyone's sake, not just Elgar's.