Mark Lehain, executive headteacher at Wootton Academy Trust, described the figures are “sad but not surprising”.
The former government adviser said: “The good news is that we know better than ever how to systematically support students to be their best, have clear expectations which we explicitly teach…that are calmly and consistently upheld.
“Things are tough right now, but I’m optimistic that we will do even better as a sector over time.”
The recently published data also shows that suspensions and exclusions reached record highs in England’s state schools in 2023-24. Since 2020-21, schools have been able to record multiple reasons for a single suspension or permanent exclusion.
The number of suspensions neared 1 million for the first time (954,952) in 2023-24, up 21 per cent on the previous year (786,961), while permanent exclusions crossed the 10,000 threshold for the first time (10,885), up 16.1 per cent on 2022-23.