More than a quarter of school staff have had a false allegation made against them by a pupil, according to a survey published today.

One in six has had a false claim made against them by a member of a pupil’s family, according to the study by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).

Half of school staff said they or a colleague had had a false allegation made against them by a pupil or a member of a pupil’s family.

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These were the key findings of a survey of 1,155 ATL members working as support staff, teachers, department heads and school leaders in state and private schools around the UK.

In half the cases the allegation was immediately dismissed by the school, and the police were notified in only 16 per cent of instances.

ATL general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said: “School staff are having their careers blighted by false allegations and their private lives damaged as a result of the stress.

“We are losing good teachers, heads and support staff to the detriment of children’s education. We all accept the protection of children is paramount, but that should not be at the expense of natural justice – school staff have rights too.

“This survey suggests huge numbers of staff are facing false allegations every week. It’s time the balance was redressed so that school staff are not presumed guilty until proven innocent.

“The right to anonymity should be re-examined, to reduce the damage to the lives of innocent staff and make it less difficult to reintegrate into school.”