The number of school exclusions involving weapon attacks in Scotland has soared to a five-year high.

As reported by the BBC, figures for 2016/17 showed there were around 300 cases of pupils being excluded for assaulting a member of staff or pupils with a weapon.

In addition, the data shows there were 428 incidents relating to improvised weapons.

The Scottish Government say that it will be working with schools and local authorities on anti-violence campaigns.

In 2014/15 there were 661 incidents relating to school exclusions involving weapons.

For the figure now stands at 739 and for 2012/14, there were 710 reported incidents.

The number of exclusions for assault without the use of a weapon has also risen, with 4,635 in 2016/17, from 3,990 and 4,371 in previous years.

Physical assaults on members of staff which have led to exclusions have also increased by 23 per cent, from 1,588 in 2014/15, to 1,990 in 2016/17.

However, the number of overall exclusions has decreased down from 18,430 in 2014/15 to 18,377 in 2016/17.