The number of pupils excluded from school for bad behaviour has increased in Gwynedd.

Secondary and primary schools have both seen rises, whilst boys seem to be the most common offenders, according to data.

Some 60 per cent of permanent exclusions in the county’s schools related to “persistent disruptive behaviour”.

The rest concerns “verbal abuse/threatening behaviour towards pupils/ members of staff, drug supply and serious attacks on other pupils” a Cyngor Gwynedd education report stated.

Stats were presented in a report during a recent education and economy scrutiny committee meeting after a request was made to assess progress on the recommendations made in an Estyn report last year.

The decision to permanently exclude a student was considered “a serious one and a last resort”.

Its use, the report noted, acknowledged that a school had “exhausted all available strategies for dealing with the learner”.

For the year 2022/23 in secondary schools, 452 pupils were given fixed term exclusions and 44 received permanent exclusions.

In 2023/24, those figures rose to 470 and 48 respectively.

In primary schools, 47 pupils received fixed term exclusions, with one permanent exclusion in 2022/23.

In 2023/24, the numbers went to 57 and three.

Sixteen girls were permanently excluded in 2022/23, but in 2023/24 the figure had dropped to 12.

In 2022/23, the number of boys permanently excluded was 30, but had increased to 41 in 2023/24.

Concerning school attendances, the report noted that “significant work” was being undertaken to improve rates over the past year, including use of AI technology to analyse data, more welfare officers employed, and increased monitoring of schools and registers.

The average attendance in the county over the 23/24 academic year had risen to 89.1 per cent, up from 88.7 per cent compared with the previous academic year.

The percentage of attendances of specific groups including free school meals was now 85.04 per cent, pupils with additional learning needs, 86.99 per cent and looked after children, 90.35 per cent.

Across the secondary sector, levels of “authorised absences” continued to be reported, relating to “illness and pupils emotional well-being”.

The council report noted that there remained “clear challenges in addressing pupils’ significant social, emotional, and behavioural needs in the post-pandemic era”.

No significant progress has been made, but there were “steps being taken in response to the situation,” it was noted.