Schools are still suffering from “a real behaviour problem”, said Education Secretary Michael Gove, as he warned many are hiding naughty conduct from inspectors.

In some cases poor teachers and unruly pupils have been asked by schools to stay at home on the day of Ofsted inspections, the Education Secretary added.

Bad classroom behaviour is still the main reason why teachers leave the profession, and why many people are turned off teaching, he added.

According to latest figures, almost 1,000 children are suspended every school day for abuse and assault, while nearly a third of all permanent exclusions in secondary schools are due to persistent disruptive behaviour.

Speaking as the government published new guidance for schools on dealing with bad behaviour, Mr Gove suggested that Ofsted was not seeing the full picture during inspections.

He said he had been told by teachers that “weak teachers are invited to stay at home, we make sure disruptive pupils don’t come in, and the best teachers are on corridor duty. We put on our best face for inspections.”

This is why the government wants Ofsted to have the powers to conduct specific no-notice inspections, Mr Gove said.

“It is only by having that power that we can be certain that we will deal with these entrenched problems.”

He later added: “We rely on Ofsted to let us know how behaviour is in many schools.”

While behaviour issues have been tackled in many schools, “it is certainly the case that in some schools the behaviour problem is critical,” Mr Gove said.

Two thirds of teachers believe that bad behaviour is driving staff out of the classroom, according to the Department for Education.