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

It comes as Impetus, a charity advocating for disadvantaged young people, said the Government's ambition to break down barriers to education cannot be achieved "if tens of thousands of students are not in the classroom".

Department for Education figures show there were 12,115 suspensions in the 2022-23 academic year – the highest since records began for the area.

It was up from 7,988 suspensions the year before, and an increase from 5,713 in 2018-19, before the pandemic.

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

Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said the figures are "another stark reminder" to the Government of the scale of the task ahead of it.

He said: "Schools work incredibly hard to support children and use suspensions and exclusions as a last resort, but they cannot be expected to address the full range of complex root-causes that can often lead to disruptive behaviour in the classroom."

The number of permanent exclusions across the country also reached a record high at 9,376 in 2022-23, a rise of 44% on the year before.

In Surrey, there were 142 permanent exclusions last year – up from 107 in 2021-22.

Efua Poku-Amanfo, research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said the increased rate of exclusions may be a short-term problem for schools, but "becomes a much longer-term problem for society, young people’s health and their future opportunities".

She added: "Students excluded from school are more likely to be from low-income backgrounds, have lower attainment, and have special educational needs."

More than half (55%) of all suspensions in England were among children eligible for free school meals, meaning their parent or carer is receiving one of several benefits.

Of the suspensions in Surrey, 5,316 (44%) were for children eligible for free school meals.

Steve Haines, director of public affairs at Impetus, said: "The Government has set a compelling ambition to break down barriers to education for all children, but this can't be achieved if tens of thousands of them are not in the classroom.

"We urgently need to take action to reduce preventable exclusions and support schools to ensure every child can learn and succeed."

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% more likely than average to be suspended.

Of the children in Surrey, those from Gypsy Roma backgrounds had the highest suspension rate at 46.2 per 100 students – 6.2 times the area's average suspension rate of 7.4 per 100 students.

Education minister Stephen Morgan said the "shocking" figures are a wake-up call about problems in schools.

He added: "They put into sharp focus that too many pupils are being held back by their background and that our education system is failing to meet the needs of children with additional needs."

He said the Government has already committed to more mental health professionals in secondary schools, free breakfast clubs in primary schools, and earlier intervention in mainstream schools for pupils with special needs.