Bullying of gay schoolchildren in the classroom and playground is forcing thousands of kids to leave school early. A report by the gay equality charity Stonewall estimates that up to 60,000 schoolchildren in the UK are the victims of homophobic bullying. The charity is calling for schools to protect these pupils.

A survey conducted by the Terence Higgins Trust found that four out of five secondary school teachers said that they were aware of verbal homophobic bullying in their school. That figure, coupled with research by the University of York that bullied gay pupils are more likely to leave school after their GSCEs than heterosexual pupils, leads Stonewall to suggest that thousands of gay children are being forced out of education earlier than they would like.

'It's a question of valuing every pupil equally,' says Stonewall's chief executive Ben Summerskill. 'It's time that headteachers took seriously their responsibility to the 450,000 pupils in British schools who are growing up as lesbian or gay.'

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