Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said: “From the moment the Schools Bill was published it was clear it wasn’t going to be workable. It was inevitable the government would eventually have to scrap it, and we are pleased to see it won’t go ahead in its current form.

“While this is the right decision, it does reflect the chaos of government over the last 12 months. It’s frustrating that so much of everyone’s time has been spent dealing with this when we could all see its flaws.

“And it’s a shame that the sensible and necessary elements of the Bill that we did support have been thrown into the long grass alongside the others. The introduction of a register of children not in school, for example, is something we believe is important to improve safeguarding for children, as is the crackdown on illegal schools. We hope these elements of the Bill won’t be lost entirely.”