The Conservatives are using the figures to back their campaign to strengthen teachers' powers to stop and search pupils.
The party is seeking to amend the Apprenticeships, Children, Skills and Learning Bill in the House of Lords to give head teachers new powers to search for and confiscate potentially dangerous items, such as lighters and matches.
Shadow children's secretary Michael Gove said: "The large number of arson attacks, on top of all the other problems in schools, is deeply worrying." He added that a Conservative government would go even further and repeal current guidance that tells teachers not to search pupils who refuse to be searched.
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