THE number of pupils suspended due to misogynistic, sexist, or harassment-related behaviour last year was more than fives times that of five years ago, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed.

In the 2023/24 academic year, 98 pupils were suspended and two were permanently excluded in Devon schools, whereas in the 2019/20 academic year there were 11 suspensions and zero exclusions, the FOI shows.

It represents a more than fivefold increase in the number of suspensions across a five year period.

So far this academic year, there have been 58 suspensions and one exclusion.

There were 31 suspensions in 2020/21, 75 suspensions in 2021/22 and 59 suspensions in 2022/23