The number of immigrant children who joined England's secondary schools without speaking English has jumped by 50 per cent since 2005, figures show today.
And nearly 2,000 non-English speaking 15-year-olds – enough to fill two secondary schools – had their GCSE results removed from league tables at their teachers' request, said the Government.
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Secondary School league tables in full »Hear education correspondent John Roberts debate the issues-------------------------------------------
This year's figure showed a 50 per cent rise since 2005, when GCSE results were only adjusted to overlook the grades of 1,314 pupils. The Yorkshire region has one of the fastest growing rates of non-English-speaking pupils in Britain, with schools now struggling to cater for almost 30,000 foreign pupils, according to new guidelines.
The number of foreign pupils joining Yorkshire secondary schools has doubled in three years, from 720 new students in 2005 to 1,680 new students this school year.
Shipley MP Philip Davies last night called on the Government to remove students who do not speak English from the classroom until their understanding has been brought up to scratch by extra tuition.
"How can teachers possibly teach in the same class those who can't speak English and those who have always spoken English? Removing children who haven't got a basic grasp of English is the practical option because it either goes over their heads or slows others down."
The Government's new arrivals excellence guidelines for teachers say a large influx of eastern European immigrants is chiefly responsible for the changing social make-up of schools.
Nick Seaton, of York-based pressure group Campaign for Real Education, said that was putting huge strain on the region's schools. "Schools have to got to learn to cope with it. Schools with this problem need to give pupils a good grounding in English before entering them for GCSEs."
Teaching unions have complained that resources are being stretched by demands of new pupils who do not speak English.
A Yorkshire spokesman for the National Union of Teachers said: "The influx of new eastern European immigrants places a stress on schools, which they cope with well, but the current grant system is not adequate enough to deal with the issues. We need a major increase in the ethnic minority achievement grant."
The specialist teaching team at North Yorkshire County Council said more than 100 schools had appealed for advice this year on coping with children still learning English.
But head of services Ros Kendrew said the diversity of languages enriched the lives of children. "Of course we have seen a sharp rise in English as an additional language children over the last few years," she said. "It is a learning experience for the teachers involved but they are rising to the challenge."
Department for Children, Schools and Families spokeswoman Jill Chesworth stressed that the number of pupils whose GCSE results are omitted from the total represented "a tiny proportion" of all those sitting exams.
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