The number of suspensions in Cumbria schools reached a record high in the last academic year, new figures show.

Department for Education figures show there were 4,690 suspensions in the 2022-23 academic year – the highest since records began for the area.

It was up from 4,421 suspensions the year before, and an increase from 3,591 in 2018-19, before the pandemic.

Across England, suspensions rose 36 per cent from 578,300 in 2021-22 to 787,000 last year – the highest number on record.

In Cumbria, there were 83 permanent exclusions last year – up from 73 in 2021-22.

More than half of all suspensions in England were among children eligible for free school meals.

Of the suspensions in Cumbria, 2,048 were for children eligible for free school meals.

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The national figures also show children from Gypsy Roma backgrounds were more than three times as likely to receive a suspension, while kids from mixed white and black Caribbean backgrounds were 86 per cent more likely than average to be suspended.

Of the children in Cumbria, those from white and black Caribbean backgrounds had the highest suspension rate at 24 per 100 students – 3.6 times the area's average suspension rate of 6.7 per 100 students.