More than 420 primary school pupils and almost 2,200 secondary school students were excluded in Bradford during the last academic year, including one nine-year-old for sexual misconduct.

A total of 16 youngsters, half of whom were aged under 12, were excluded for the district’s schools for sexual misconduct last year, a Freedom of Information request by the Telegraph & Argus has found.

The figures also reveal that 11 five-year-olds and 27 six-year-olds were excluded for violence and one eight-year-old was excluded for bringing a weapon to school.

A total of 112 primary school children, aged from five to 12, were excluded for physically assaulting their peers while 100 pupils, also aged between five and 12, were excluded for physically assaulting adults.

The total number of children excluded from the district’s 127 Council-run primary schools between September 2010 and July 2011 was 423 – up almost seven per cent from the previous year when 397 primary school pupils were excluded.

Almost 2,200 secondary school pupils were also excluded during the last academic year, down from just over 2,400 between September 2009 and July 2010 and more than 3,000 the year before that.

Exclusions between September 2010 and July 2011 included 54 for drugs and alcohol-related incidents and 48 for theft, both involving pupils aged from 12 to 16.

Almost 500 pupils were excluded for physically assaulting other students and 47 for attacking adults.

A total of 16 secondary school students were also permanently excluded during the last academic year, for incidents involving drugs, weapons and physical assault – down from 22 the year before and 27 between September 2008 and July 2009.

Conservative MP for Shipley Philip Davies said he was “shocked” by the findings.

He said: “I think it says a lot about the state of society in this day and age. I would always defend the right of schools to exclude pupils causing a menace to other children in school.”

Councillor Ralph Berry, Bradford Council’s executive member for children and young people’s services, said: “I do have concerns about some of the situations affecting some children coming into schools whose behaviour can’t be managed and who can’t take instructions.

“There is obviously a small number of very severe situations where children coming into school are profoundly delayed in their development and have not been experiencing effective parenting. This needs to have an early intervention.”

He stressed the importance of agencies working together to give families the right kind of support and intervention where appropriate.

George McQueen, director of access and inclusion, said: “Schools have behaviour policies which they implement when excluding pupils. The Council provides support to schools with behaviour and exclusions and is responsible for providing figures to the DfE.

“Whilst there are many thousands of primary school children in the Bradford District who are never excluded, we take those small numbers very seriously, as do the schools.”