The equivalent of 35 children a day are being expelled from schools in England, official figures show.
New government statistics reveal an increase in the number of permanent exclusions.
In total, children at state schools in England were expelled on 6,685 occasions last year, up almost 1,000 from 5,785 occasions in 2014/15.
This is the equivalent to around 35.2 exclusions a day in 2015/16, up from an average of 30.5 a day the year before.
Most exclusions were from secondary schools (81%), the Department for Education figures show.
Government statisticians calculated that the rate of permanent exclusions from all state schools, primary, secondary and special, is equivalent to eight pupils per 10,000, up from seven per 10,000 the year before.
Longer term trends show the rate of permanent exclusions has generally been dropping since 2006/07.