Responding to this morning's new figures showing a marked increase in school suspensions and exclusions during the 2023/24 academic year, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“Schools have a duty to provide a safe environment for all pupils and only use suspensions and exclusions when other options to ensure this have been exhausted.

“The reasons for disruptive behaviour often lie beyond the school gates and have their roots in wider challenges including everything from poverty, to access to support with special educational needs and mental ill-health..

“Schools work tirelessly to support pupils, but they alone cannot address the causes and symptoms of poor behaviour.

"They need back-up in the shape of additional investment in vital services like social care, children’s mental health, behaviour support teams, and special educational needs provision which have been reduced or failed to keep up with demand over the last decade.”

The figures show there were 955,000 suspensions in the 2023/24 academic year, a 21% increase from the previous year.

There were 10,900 permanent exclusions in the 2023/24 academic year, a 16% increase.