Responding to this morning's new figures, which show a 40% year-on-year increase in pupil suspensions from school, and a 34% rise in exclusions when comparing the autumn terms of 2022/23 and 2023/24, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“Schools want children to be in the classroom and use suspensions and exclusions as a last resort for the safety and wellbeing of all pupils.

“School leaders and teachers recognise that poor or disruptive behaviour may often have its roots in challenges facing families, with parents having faced everything from a cost of living crisis to a pandemic in recent years.

“While schools do their best to help pupils, they alone are not equipped to address these issues - but vital services like social care, children’s mental health and special educational needs provision have been cut or failed to keep pace with demand over the last decade. More investment in community support is needed, including the behaviour support teams which used to offer specialist help to young people but now need rebuilding.

“We recognise that turning this situation around will take time, but it is positive that the new government has promised to address some of these issues, setting up a child poverty taskforce and making clear its intention to address the crisis in special educational needs provision.”