Racist behaviour in schools is on the rise, with record numbers of children being sent home from school last year as a result.

Reception class children as young as four years old were included in just over 15,000 reports of racism which led to pupils being sent home, the Mirror reported.

Freedom of information (FOI) data found suspensions for racism have risen from 7,403 in the school year ending 2021, to 15,191 in 2024.

Almost 2,500 of these suspensions involved children at primary school.

One headteacher said the children, some as young as four, didn’t “fully comprehend” racist terms. “It is a reflection of changes in society, not in schools,” they said.

A government spokesperson called the figures “unacceptable” and said “racism and discrimination have absolutely no place in our schools”.

Earlier this year, early years education consultant Liz Pemberton told HuffPost UK there has been a “noticeable increase” in the use of racist language used by white children in early years settings.

At the time, she told HuffPost UK there is an issue where some educators are not secure in their understanding of what constitutes racist behaviour, or they’re not addressing such behaviour and challenging it when it happens.

“In my experience, many white early years educators are so uncomfortable with the word ‘racism’, that they bury their heads........

© HuffPost