The number of school suspensions handed out last academic year in Devon was the highest on record, new figures show.

It comes as the school leaders' union NAHT warned the causes behind classroom disruption "lie beyond the school gates".

Figures from the Department for Education show 18,952 suspensions were handed out in Devon schools in the 2023-24 academic year – up from 16,147 a year earlier.

It was also the highest figure since local records began in 2006-07.

It meant the area had a rate of 18.9 suspensions per 100 pupils last year.

Across England, there were about 955,000 suspensions in the 2023-24 academic year, the highest on record.

Permanent exclusions also reached a record level, with 10,900 recorded last year. It included 146 exclusions in Devon.

Beth Prescott, education lead at the Centre for Social Justice think tank, said: "There is a crisis of bad behaviour disrupting classrooms."

She added: "Government and schools have an important role to play, but our research shows that parents also need to up their game and take responsibility for their children’s behaviour in class.

"There has been a fundamental breakdown in the school-parent social contract."

The figures also showed pupils on free school meals and those receiving special educational needs support faced a higher rate of suspensions.

Devon recorded a rate of 49.5 suspensions per 100 FSM pupils – 4.4 times the rate for pupils not receiving FSM.

Meanwhile, the area had a rate of 57.4 suspensions per 100 SEN pupils, which was 5.6 times the rate for children not receiving support.

Avnee Morjaria, associate director at the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank, said: "Those hardest hit are often the most disadvantaged: children from low-income families, those with special educational needs, and those from minority ethnic backgrounds."

She added: "Schools are overstretched and under-supported, and without urgent action, we risk letting this crisis of lost learning become a lasting legacy.

"We need bold reform, investing in a system that is inclusive by design instead of support being locked behind legislative thresholds."

Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said many of the reasons behind disruptive behaviour "lie beyond the school gates" and "have their roots in wider challenges".

He warned schools alone cannot address the causes and symptoms of poor behaviour.

He added: "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."

Education minister Stephen Morgan said "every moment in the classroom counts", adding this Government inherited "classrooms in chaos".

He said its Plan for Change has "wasted no time" in tackling poor behaviour by providing access to mental health support in schools, expanding free school meals, introducing breakfast clubs, and launching attendance and behaviour hubs.

"We're also continuing to listen to parents as we reform the Send system, while already putting in place better and earlier support for speech and language needs, ADHD and autism and £740 million to encourage councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools," he added.