The number of pupils being permanently expelled from school is falling sharply at the same time as a huge rise in children dropping out of class and into home education.

Only two out of 39 schools in Canterbury and Faversham have handed out exclusions in the last academic year - down from 14 a decade ago.

It has led to fears some pupils are being encouraged to enter into home-schooling as an alternative to being expelled.

Peter Read, of Kent Independent Education Advice, says more scrutiny is needed over whether parents are being pressured into agreeing to home-education.

Mr Read, a former head teacher, said: "I have talked to parents who find that they are under pressure to home-educate.

"It goes something like this. They will be told 'your child is misbehaving. If it carries on we will permanently exclude them. Can I suggest that you avoid this situation by home-educating'. That has got to be scrutinised more."

Across Kent as a whole, the number of pupils opting to continue their studies at home has soared in recent years from 449 in the 2009/10 academic year to 1,113 in 2017/18.

Retired Canterbury Academy head teacher Phil Karnavas has concerns about the increased use of home education.

"Children who experience it are generally provided no guidance or support," he said.

"Thus, those who may well need the most support get the least and those who need the greatest help at crucial times of their education are abandoned.

"There are some good reasons to [home educate] and some parents do it well. But it appears some are pressured into signing up without, presumably, realising the consequences for their child.

"I have talked to parents who find that they are under pressure to home-educate..."Peter Read

"It further appears that overwhelmingly these children are the most vulnerable, the most needy and from families that need the most support."

Mr Read has called for Ofsted to more closely scrutinise the rates of pupils dropping into home-schooling.

"There's no inspection regime for home education," he said. "Kent County Council has no oversight unless the parents choose to talk to them.

"In terms of children, this could damage their chances greatly. In terms of society, my guess is that the difficulties that child may go on to have are going to be a considerably greater expense than

if something was done to support that child in school."

Ming Zhang, Kent County Council's head of service for pupil referral units, inclusion and attendance, said: "Children off-rolled into Elective Home Education (EHE) are written to within 48 hours of notification to KCC explaining to families what their responsibilities are in this regard and offering a point of contact and a visit from an EHE Officer.

"If parents ever feel they have been encouraged to EHE and it is not their preferred option, officers engage the schools immediately and work with all parties concerned to secure a return to school.

"There is an extremely low number of pupils being permanently excluded in Canterbury, although head teachers always have the authority to do so. Schools in Canterbury collectively adapt an inclusive and collaborative approach to better behaviour management with a voluntary agreement among the schools not to use permanent exclusion without trying out good behaviour support and intervention measures."

Two schools in the Canterbury district have among the highest rates in the county of pupils dropping out to be home-educated.

At The Whitstable School, 20 pupils left for this reason last year - about 3% of the school roll. Half of them were in Year 11, when GCSE exams are taken.

Meanwhile, at Spires Academy, 15 pupils opted for home education in 2017/18, most of them in Years 9 and 10.

Head teacher Nicki Mattin admits this figure is a significant increase on recent years.

"Three years ago, we had one child electing home education," she said. "Very few of those children last year were Year 11 students - there was only one - so it isn't that they are being off-rolled.

"If I look at the reasons, it falls into two categories. The first is that we have been looking very hard at attendance over the last year. We have been penalty noticing and I can say that there's a cohort of students who are either none-attending or have poor attendance, who have chosen home education.

"The other group that seems to be sticking out is students who are experiencing anxiety."

The Whitstable School did not respond to a request for a comment.

While the number of permanent exclusions has gone down the number of suspensions has increased.