Children who are abused and neglected at home are more likely than their peers to do badly at school, to have behaviour problems and to become victims of bullying, according to a report.

　　The first British overview of research on the relationship between how children are treated at home and how they fare at school proves that abuse has a "profound effect" on children's performance in all aspects of school life, its authors say.

　　The study, published by the NSPCC, includes the finding that maltreatment in the first five years of life almost triples a child's likelihood of having multiple physiological, behavioural and academic problems at school.

　　Children with special educational needs are more than seven times more likely than their classmates to suffer physical abuse and have almost the same chance of being neglected, according to the research.

　　The study also says that children who have spent a year or more in care, and are more likely than their peers to have suffered maltreatment, are more likely to fail their GCSEs; 8% of youngsters in care achieve five good GCSEs, compared with a national average of more than 50%.

　　Although it is impossible to gauge precisely the numbers of children suffering abuse, often without either their school authorities or other services knowing the truth of their circumstances, one study found one in six young British adults reported at least one serious abusive incident in their childhoods.

　　The report calls on schools to address pupils' problems "with a careful eye to the possibility of there being problems at home", and suggests that this approach could lead to early identification of any abuse.