As bleak stats go, it’s certainly up there: there has been a 220 per cent increase in suspensions for racist abuse within primary schools in the past three years, Department for Education data shows.

Specifically, in the autumn term of 2020-21 there were 201 suspensions for racist abuse. By the autumn term of 2023-24 this has increased to 644.

Overall, in the 2020-21 school year 698 incidents were logged for racist abuse that led to suspension but in 2022-23 this figure had almost doubled to 1,274.

Furthermore, while the latest available data for the 2023-24 academic year only covers the autumn term, that was when the highest figure of 644 was recorded, suggesting it will increase again.

What’s more, this increase has occurred during a period when the number of primary pupils has fallen by 32,861.

It is worth noting that since 2020 up to three reasons for a suspension can be logged, meaning that racist abuse might not the sole cause for a suspension. But the fact that this abuse is being logged at all shows it is becoming more prevalent among primary pupils - and in all parts of the country.

One headteacher in the North of England, speaking anonymously, says they are one of those to have witnessed this increase. While sometimes the use of a racist term by a pupil may be “innocent”, they say - for example, repeating song lyrics that they do not understand - these terms are often said as an insult.

“There’s definitely been an uptick in the use of racist language. It’s not always with intent but my gut is they are repeating what their parents have said - it’s something they have picked up at home,” the headteachers says.

“I think certainly in the last year or two, due to social media and the polarisation of views, people are comfortable saying things they weren’t comfortable saying a couple of years ago, and children are bringing that into school.”

More racist incidents in schools

Brian Walton, headteacher of Brookside Academy, a primary school in Somerset, says he recognises this, too. “I’ve been a head for 21 years now and I would certainly say that post-Brexit things have got worse, including with more racist incidents,” he says.

“We’ve not seen a lot thankfully but we have had incidents like the police sometimes calling us and saying they need to come and show us CCTV of something, like a pupil spraying racist graffiti, and asking if we know the child.”

The CEO of one MAT, who wishes to remain anonymous, says they have also seen a rise in racist incidents within their primary schools, and says wider cultural influences are often the cause.

“The challenge of understanding the reasons for racist incidents in school is compounded by external factors, not the least of which is the seeming increase of accusatory and racially fuelled views on social media,” they say.

A spokesperson for the PSHE Association, which represents a subject that covers anti-racism teaching, concurs: “We’re concerned that the online discourse and influence in recent years has had an impact on promoting extreme and intolerant views towards others.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, says it is “shocking, but sadly not surprising” that the data shows an increase in racist abuse in primary schools. He adds that the figures underline why it is so important that schools remain committed to tackling racism.

“Education can play a pivotal role in tackling discrimination, improving awareness and challenging prejudice,” he says.

“That’s why NAHT is calling for a centralised, anti-racist approach to education, underpinned by regular, mandatory anti-racism training for all staff.”

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• Behaviour in schools: Is it really getting worse?

Of course, the fact that more suspensions are being issued for racist abuse is positive in one sense: it shows that schools are taking the issue seriously.

“It shows schools are clamping down on it. They’re not brushing it under the carpet but are saying, ‘What happened is not acceptable,’” says Walton.

The anonymous MAT CEO echoes this view: “Our policy for managing racist incidents, or indeed any prejudice-based incidents, remains resolute. We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.”

The data shows that suspensions for racist abuse are generally lowest in the autumn term and highest in the summer - a trend visible across each of the past three full academic years.

Walton says this is likely due to schools attempting to educate pupils in response to any initial transgressions at the start of the academic year.

“I imagine in the autumn term schools do a lot more to educate children and say, ‘This is wrong,’ if they do cross a line rather than issuing a suspension the first time,” he says.

Sadly, though, it seems clear that despite these efforts, schools are eventually being forced to act. The anonymous headteacher in the North says this is indicative of wider behaviour problems being seen across the sector.

“We’re all feeling that behaviour is a hell of a lot more challenging than it ever has been. It literally feels like a completely different job.”

Indeed, data on all suspensions across all primary year groups shows the huge increase over the past few years, underlining the scale of the challenge, of which racism is just one part.

Of course, these behaviours, including racist incidents, do not stop at secondary school. There, too, suspensions are on the rise, including for racist abuse - incidents leading to a suspension in secondary increased from 2,330 in the autumn term of 2020-21 to 4,053 in the autumn term of 2023-24.

Secondary schools are increasingly having to introduce measures to tackle this problem - with a focus on younger cohorts

“We’ve definitely seen a rise in racist abusive language in key stage 3,” says a secondary executive headteacher in the East of England. “Nothing in key stage 4/5 - only younger kids.”

He says students often “use the n-word towards each other” - and staff say this appears be to because they have heard it used on social media platforms, especially TikTok. “We’ve had to adapt PSHE lessons as a result,” they add.

The PSHE Association says it hopes that more schools see “the PSHE education curriculum and PSHE teachers” as an important way to tackle this issue, while Whiteman says the NAHT is “committed to helping our members actively address this”, such as through initiatives like its Leaders for Race Equality Network.

Sadly, the view of many of the leaders whom I spoke with for this article is that the rise in racist abuse is likely to continue. The current data stops before events such as the Stockport stabbings in July 2024, which led to rioting across the country, or the recent debates about child grooming gangs, which leaders say could fuel incidents in schools.

“Social media has been flooded with really extreme views, and some it has been thrust into the mainstream,” says one primary head.

“I think the anti-migrant rhetoric is a lot stronger than it ever was, and we see that in schools now when incidents flare up.”

With the data on suspensions in the spring term of 2023-24 set to released in April, it will be interesting to see if the situation has, indeed, got worse.

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