The NZ regions where the most children have been excluded for taking weapons to school

New figures reveal the regions where most students have been excluded, suspended and stood down for taking weapons to school.

Data released under the Official Information Act and sent to Newshub by the Ministry of Education shows Auckland schools excluded 10 students in 2019 for using or possessing a weapon - the most of any region in the country for the year.

Auckland also had the most suspensions and stand-downs for the year at 21 and 77 respectively.

Exclusions are suspensions where enrolment has been terminated for students under 16-years-old.

Ministry of Education sector enablement and support deputy secretary Katrina Casey said if the student is under 16-years-old, the board may decide to exclude the student from the school, with the requirement they enrol elsewhere.

"Stand-downs and suspensions are measures of schools' reactions to behaviours, as much as they are a measure of the behaviours themselves," she said.

"What one school may suspend for, another may not, and our data does not capture the severity of an individual action."

In the Taranaki/Whanganui/Manawatu region in 2019, six were excluded for possessing or using a weapon, and five in Waikato. Exclusions in all other regions were less than five, the data shows.

The Ministry of Education says the 2019 data only covers from the start of the year until October 2017.