A teacher who was awarded almost half a million pounds after being hit over the head with a skate board by a violent pupil was among a 72 per cent rise in compensation pay-outs in the past year.

The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) were awarded tens of millions of pounds in compensation last year after facing attacks from pupils, injuries and discrimination in the workplace, the latest figures show.

It comes amid a surge in violent attacks from students, as the number of children suspended or expelled from school for physically attacking an adult jumped by an average of 10 per cent in the last year, according to Department for Education (DfE) statistics.