More than 200 school teachers have been thrown out of the profession in the past decade, official figures have revealed.

Since 2001, 228 have been struck off by the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) with 211 of those being prohibited from teaching for misconduct.

The remaining 17 were struck off for incompetence, according to the figures released by Schools Minister Nick Gibb. Once struck off, failed teachers are banned from applying for another job in education.

Tory MP Chris Skidmore, who requested the data in a written parliamentary question, said: "These figures offer another lesson in how the last Labour government failed to focus sufficiently on ensuring rigour and standards in the classroom.

"Most teachers do an exceptional job. But for the profession to get the respect it deserves and for pupils to get the best start in life, it is vital that poor performance is rooted out, not swept under the carpet, like it was under Labour."

The Department for Education has announced plans to abolish the GTCE, and plans to overhaul rules on regulating teachers.

Data obtained by the Times Educational Supplement (TES) found that more than 3,000 teachers faced incompetence proceedings between 2005-10.