The number of students suspended from school over racist abuse in Lancashire increased by 12 per cent last year, figures show.

Department for Education Figures show there were 71 suspensions at Lancashire schools for racial abuse during the 2022-23 spring term – up from 63 across the same period the year before.

This follows the national trend, with 3,779 suspensions for racial abuse recorded across English schools – a 21 per cent rise from 2021-22.

These figures do not include Blackburn with Darwen, whose schools do not come under Lancashire County Council’s authority.

The figures showed there were two suspensions for racist abuse at schools in the borough for the same period, which matched the figures from the previous year.

They also show a substantial increase compared to the spring term in 2018-19, before the pandemic, when there were 1,690 such exclusions.

In Lancashire, pupils were suspended on 25 occasions during this period.

Becca Rosenthal, hate crime lead at Victim Support, said schools are working harder to protect young people impacted by racial hate.

She said: “This increase in suspensions and exclusions could be an indicator that schools are clamping down on this behaviour, rather than reflecting an actual rise in racist abuse.

“Racist abuse has a devastating impact on young people, affecting their mental health and overall wellbeing.

“It can cause the breakdown of friendships and disrupt children’s learning, making victims unwilling to come to school. It’s vital that schools and youth services have the tools to tackle racist abuse and staff are confident in having challenging conversations.”

Across the county, 20 pupils had to look for a new school after being permanently excluded for racial abuse, including two in Lancashire.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Racism, discrimination and violent behaviour have no place in our schools, nor in society.

“The Government is very clear it backs head teachers to use exclusions where required, so they can provide calm, safe, and supportive environments for children to learn in.

“We are providing targeted support to schools to help improve behaviour, attendance and reduce the risk of exclusions with an investment of £10 million in our Behaviour Hubs programme, and our mental health teams who will reach at least 50% of pupils by 2025.”

A spokesperson for Lancashire County Council said: "As a local authority, we don't condone any racist behaviour and we support our schools in dealing with this issue."