Statistics seen by The Chronicle reveal that the borough’s schools handed out 211 permanent and temporarily expulsions for physically assaulting an adult or pupil last year, up from 100 in 2005-6.

Overall there were 768 exclusions in 2012-13, including seven for bullying, six for racist abuse and 209 for persistent disruptive behaviour.

Of those, 33 — around 0.2 per cent of the school population — were permanent, meaning the borough has the highest proportion of expulsions in the country.

Reading Borough Council’s education leader, Cllr John Ennis, said the authority has called in Ofsted to examine a small number of schools who are using exclusions on a regular basis.

He added: “I’d like to believe that schools are using this measure as a last resort, but it’s something we’ve got to look at because the figure is too high.

“Exclusions are a short-term measure and they’re not the way forward on this scale because they don’t really solve anything.

“We need to ask if there’s a more effective way of dealing with the issue of disruptive children because if you keep a child in school they’ve got more chance of learning.”

The statistics show a recent rise in pupils’ bad behaviour, with the number of exclusions up 10 per cent on 2011-12 and 30 per cent since 2010.

However it has remained stable in the longer term, with 20 pupils permanently and 740 temporarily banned from school in the academic year 2005-6. The figures also show a rapid rise in exclusions for persistent disruptive behaviour, with the number of cases rocketing from 125 in 2005-6 to 209 last year.

Reading Borough Council spokesman Anna Fowler said: “These exclusion figures relate to the 2012-13 academic year, with this year’s figures expected to show a significant improvement.

“The rate varies significantly by school and it is low or falling in many schools. In the past academic year, we have been working closely with Ofsted to address specific concerns and reduce school exclusion numbers through either direct support or via the Department for Education for Academy schools, although we offer support to all permanently excluded pupils.

“Additionally, we will have an officer working full time from September to support schools in reducing further the numbers of excluded pupils whilst securing improved outcomes for those young people.”