Thirty-eight pupils in Brent were excluded from secondary school last year for sexual misconduct, figures have revealed.

Eight were permanently kicked out while another 30 were suspended for sexual offences such as sexual abuse, assault, harassment, lewd behaviour, sexual bullying or sexual graffiti, according to data released by the Department for Education (DfE) on Thursday.

A total of 43 were permanently banned from secondary schools for reasons ranging from assaulting another pupil to persistent disruptive behaviour – the fifth highest number in London.

Meanwhile, 374 were suspended from primary schools – the second highest in the capital.

At secondaries, 1,277 were suspended that year.

Across primary, secondary and special schools, most were suspended for assaulting another pupil, with 380 attacking another child, while 40 were disciplined for drug or alcohol offences.

Another 40 were suspended for causing “damage”, while 50 suspensions were given out for theft.

Ten were suspended for racist abuse.

The DfE rounds up figures to the nearest 10 to protect the identity of the children involved.

A spokeswoman from Brent Council said: “The council is committed to ensuring that all of our children, young people and teaching staff have a safe environment to learn and work in.

“Schools only use permanent exclusion as a last resort and for what is a serious breach of the school’s behaviour policy.

“We recognise that this is an issue and are working with schools to support them with a wide range of strategies and training to address the management of behaviour.”