Every autumn some newspapers publish school league tables so, over our cornflakes and coffee, we can check that our children are attending the "right" sort of school - one that tops the charts and ticks the correct boxes. But what is not always obvious is that schools desperate to move up the league tables often get rid of the children who are not performing to standard or whose behaviour is challenging and disruptive.

But the evidence shows that children who are excluded from school are often set up to go down the slippery path to offending. The Youth Justice Board's 2004 Youth Survey, published in July, revealed that 60 per cent of young people excluded from school have offended.

This compares starkly with the 26 per cent of young people in mainstream education who commit a crime. Excluding a child or young person from school arguably contributes to the same disaffection that can foster offending behaviour.

Robert Newman, head of education and training policy at the YJB, says it is not just difficulties with their schooling that these young people face.

"The sort of youngsters excluded from school don't just have education problems; they have a range of family and social pressures that will contribute to them being excluded," he says.

This point is reiterated by David Hawker, vice-chair of the Association of Directors of Education and Children's Services and Brighton and Hove Council's director of children's services. He says: "Both offending and school difficulties tend to be symptomatic of other problems for children and their families." Of Brighton and Hove's young offenders, as many as one-fifth have been excluded from school.

Undoubtedly, exclusion is linked with poverty, low literacy levels and overall social exclusion. While children from better off backgrounds may only skip the odd class, it is often the most disadvantaged pupils who find themselves permanently barred from school. Mark Vaughan, founder and co-director of the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education, says there is a conflict of interest within the school system. "Examination passes and league tables are extremely attractive to people, but young people or children who do not warm to these league tables are increasing in number."

It is when children and young people have time on their hands that they are "drawn into difficult situations", says Camilla Batmanghelidjh, director of Kids Company, a south London-based project that deals with children and young people excluded from school. She says: "The primary reason young people are excluded is because they can't manage within the boundaries of the school's rules. This reason may also be the foundations for offending behaviour." In her experience, 95 per cent of young people offend to meet their basic needs, such as to gain food and clothing, rather than with the intention of becoming career criminals.

So do agencies working with young people realise that being excluded from school can kick-start offending behaviour? Batmanghelidjh often meets professionals who are aware of the link but cannot admit it openly because acknowledging that the children are vulnerable goes against the ethos of their organisation.

Hawker has a more positive take on the situation. He cites the YJB's requirement for youth offending teams - which are multidisciplinary - to develop better working arrangements with local education authorities for children without a school place or whose placement is breaking down. "Most LEAs are developing better information and tracking systems which improve action times for those children without satisfactory education," he says.

Do schools intervene quickly enough before they exclude a young person? Hawker says that as schools start to interact more with YOTs, youth inclusion projects and youth inclusion and support panels, intervention is starting to happen earlier. "There is a better chance of professionals talking to each other about the risks for an individual young person and taking account of them in their planning."

Whether a school intervenes early depends on the attitude of its head teacher. Some schools are involved in the YJB's safer schools partnership programme to police schools more effectively. Under this, a police officer is based in the school to help to identify potential young offenders. But this sort of preventive work is not common practice, says Batmanghelidjh. "We still have a culture of care being delivered when there is a threat to a young person. We don't carry out preventive work because we are still very focused on intervening when the risks are identified."

So what should be done to address this problem? Vaughan suggests that schools review their culture and working practices. To help them to do this, the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education developed the index on inclusion, which was adopted by all schools in England in 2000 and by all schools in Wales in 2002.

But Batmanghelidjh calls for a new rule that says a school cannot exclude a child and remove her or him from its premises without a meeting of professionals taking place. She says: "Social services, health and education should come to the table together to make clear decisions about a child's future."

Good practice in Romford

While, for some, Romford, Essex, is synonymous with boy racers, one local project has been using four wheels to reach excluded young people.  

Since 1998, Motorvations has worked with 13 to 18 year olds who have been permanently excluded from school or who attend school part time on flexi-learning programmes. Open during school hours over the academic year, Motorvations teaches young people mechanical skills and offers five accredited training courses leading to a qualification. It employs two basic skills tutors from the local education authority and runs several educational programmes ranging from sexual health to drug awareness and sports.  

Between 50 and 60 young people from the boroughs of Havering and Barking and Dagenham attend the scheme during the day each week. 

Chris Lee has been the development manager for Motorvations for the past three years and has worked at the scheme since 1999. He says the young people often lack structure in their lives because they are out of school and this increases the risk of offending.  

"Having somewhere to go like Motorvations gives them something to do and to focus on," he says. Young people can attend Motorvations for up to two academic years, and the scheme tracks their progress after they leave. 

Motorvations also works with young offenders. It operates an evening group for young people referred by the youth offending team as part of their community order. Lee says the project works hard to identify the "pitfalls" of their offending behaviour. "If someone steals a car it is as bad as breaking into a house and we let them know that," he says. 

Lee says the scheme is successful because the young people are taught in a different environment from that in traditional schools and gain skills to help them find a job. "We've had young people come back and show us their first pay slip."