Shock new stats have revealed more than 250 pupils have been excluded from lessons in North Lanarkshire after assaulting teachers.

The alarming figures, which were revealed through a Freedom of Information request, showed 256 pupils were excluded from 2016 to 2018.

In total there were 376 incidents with disruptive pupils being excluded for more than 2,000 days.

Ian Scott is the North Lanarkshire secretary of teaching union the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS).

He said: “Clearly, these figures are a cause for concern. Teachers have every right to expect to work in a safe and secure environment, and there can never be any justification for any physical assault on a teacher.

“Where these types of incidents occur, they should be dealt with swiftly and appropriate support should be provided to the teacher.

“The EIS is currently in discussions with NLC to look at ways to reduce incidents of violence in the classroom.

“However, it is also important that we keep the scale of the problem in perspective.

“The vast majority of the pupils in our schools are well-behaved and eager to learn, and the majority of incidents of indiscipline that do occur in schools are low-level in nature.”

Figures showed that last year 51 pupils were excluded for a physical assault on a teacher with nine being taken out of lessons after attacking staff with a weapon and a further two excluded for using an improvised weapon.

There were 84 exclusion incidents in total with disruptive pupils losing 383 school days.

The highest number of incidents were recorded in 2017 when 104 kids were excluded after 142 attacks on teachers which included 27 assaults with weapons.

In 2016, 90 pupils were excluded with the number of incidents with weapons being 15, although that year saw the highest number of attacks without a weapon at 135.

In December, the EIS stated violent attacks by pupils on teachers in Scotland’s schools contributed to almost £250,000 being paid out in compensation settlements over 2018.

Instances cited by the union included a £12,000 violence claim awarded to a teacher who was assaulted twice by pupils.

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS, said while the compensation paid out in 2018 was far lower than the £450,000 awarded in 2017, he was aiming for “zero” compensation awards.

A spokesman for North Lanarkshire Council said: “We only exclude pupils as a last resort, however, the safety of everyone attending our schools is a priority and physical assaults in schools are completely unacceptable.”