Around 40 per cent of schools have reported incidents of pupils bringing weapons into the playground or classroom, Ofsted has reported.

A report from the education watchdog said that many schools viewed gang culture as a serious problem.

The study found that about half of schools thought "gang behaviour" was a recurring problem, with 20 per cent describing the problem as widespread.

"In most secondary schools there are drug-related incidents at least once a term," added the report.

Chief inspector of schools David Bell said that while the large majority of schools "are orderly places where children behave well, it is worrying that unsatisfactory behaviour has not reduced over time".

"Unsatisfactory behaviour by a minority of pupils causes nuisance and distress and disrupts the learning of others," he said.

Schools minister Derek Twigg said the government was adopting a "zero tolerance" approach to any bad behaviour.

"Permanent exclusions are 25 per cent lower than 1997 and, as Ofsted acknowledges, pupil behaviour is good in most schools most of the time," he added.

But shadow education secretary Tim Collins said Labour had "persistently turned a blind eye to deteriorating school discipline".

"Parents and teachers might care to reflect that it was this Labour government that gave appeals panels the power to over-ride head teachers on expulsions, forced every school to take disruptive pupils and failed to protect teachers against malicious abuse claims from pupils when they were just doing their job," he said.

"Instead the new Conservative government will give heads the final say on admissions and expulsions."

For the Liberal Democrats, Phil Willis put the emphasis on "good leadership, consistency and appropriate curriculum".

"It is no coincidence that this is an approach the Liberal Democrats have advocated for years," he added.

"It is essential that all schools develop consistent policies for good behaviour, agreed with parents and students and applied in an even-handed way.

"The government needs to end its bidding war with the Conservatives over who can talk the toughest, and start implementing the solutions that Sir David Bell has outlined: high quality leadership, teachers trained appropriately delivering a relevant curriculum and spending time with their pupils rather than filling out endless paperwork."