Police recorded more than 700 knife crimes, including threats and attacks, at schools in England and Wales in 2025, according to multiple reports. This marked a slight increase from 735 incidents in 2024, though it remained below a five-year peak of 879 in 2022. The offences included 118 incidents of violence and 29 threats, though the number of injuries or fatalities resulting from these crimes has not been confirmed.
Among the suspects in school knife crimes where age was provided, 33 were aged 10 or under, multiple reports indicate. West Mercia Police recorded a suspect in a knife possession offence as a seven-year-old boy, while West Yorkshire Police recorded two offences for possession of a knife or sharp instrument where the suspect was an eight-year-old boy.
It's an emergency, and there needs to be change.
Specific violent incidents at schools in 2025 included a case in February where a 13-year-old boy allegedly stabbed two boys in the neck at a secondary school in Brent, according to multiple reports. In March, a 15-year-old allegedly attacked a girl with a knife in a school near Norwich.
Data limitations and reporting issues complicate the picture, as some police forces said their knife crime figures could include incidents involving other weapons, such as screwdrivers or needles. For some forces, the data may also include incidents at colleges or sites where the school is recorded as the nearest location.
I've got hundreds of messages from parents that has said someone in their school, mostly primary schools, has taken a knife in and nothing's been done about it, or they've been sent to another school.
Beyond schools, machetes were used in 1,697 offences in England and Wales in the last two months of 2025, multiple reports indicate. However, the total number of machete-linked crimes across the UK in 2025 remains unclear, as six police forces, including Kent, Lancashire, and Thames Valley, failed to provide a response to the survey on machete crimes. The government outlawed machetes in the summer of 2024, operating an amnesty where people could hand in their knives and get compensation, though the effectiveness of this measure in reducing weapon circulation has not been detailed.
In response to the crisis, the government opened a national centre aimed at combating knife crime, according to multiple reports. The specific measures being implemented by this new centre have not been disclosed.
There needs to be serious consequences for knives being found in schools, and not just shoved under the carpet.
Criticism has emerged over school responses to knife violence. An independent report found several missed opportunities before Harvey Willgoose was murdered, including alleged failures by the school to adequately investigate concerns his killer carried weapons, according to family lawyers. Caroline Willgoose, mother of Harvey Willgoose, described the number of knife incidents in schools as an emergency and accused schools of failing to face up to the issue, according to The Independent - UK News.
Political and educational perspectives differ on addressing the crisis. Tory shadow ministers say a zero tolerance approach is needed and children excluded after being caught with knives should be thrown out of mainstream education. In contrast, school leaders claim there is a limit to what headteachers can do and call for a society-wide response to tackle the knife crisis.