Pupils as young as 7 have been caught taking blades to class in shocking new figures that lay bare the true scale of the UK’s knife crisis in schools.
As the government opens a national centre aimed at combating knife crime, The Independent can reveal more than 700 knife crimes, including threats and attacks, were recorded by police at schools in England and Wales last year.
It comes after a 13-year-old boy allegedly stabbed two boys in the neck at a secondary school in Brent in February, and a 15-year-old allegedly attacked a girl with a knife in school near Norwich a month later.
The mother of Harvey Willgoose, who was murdered by another pupil in 2025, called the number of incidents an “emergency” and accused schools of failing to face up to the issue as she reissued her call for metal detectors, otherwise known as “knife arches”.
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, while school leaders claim there is a limit to what headteachers can do and call for a society-wide response to tackle the crisis.
There were 748 recorded offences involving knives or sharp objects in schools in 2025, including attacks and threats, according to the data requests from 26 of the 42 forces that responded. This marked a slight increase from 735 in 2024, and a fall from a five-year peak of 879 in 2022.
Twelve of the forces provided information on the age of suspects, which showed that, shockingly, 33 were aged 10 or under.
They included West Mercia Police recording the suspect in a knife possession offence as a seven-year-old boy. West Yorkshire Police recorded two offences for possession of a knife or sharp instrument where the suspect was an eight-year-old boy. The offences included 118 incidents of violence and 29 threats.
Some forces said their knife crime figures could include incidents involving other weapons, such as screwdrivers or needles. And for some, the data may include incidents at colleges or sites where the school is recorded as the nearest location.
Caroline Willgoose, whose son Harvey was stabbed through the heart with a hunting knife at All Saints Catholic High School, said the figures were deeply concerning, but not a surprise.
“It’s an emergency, and there needs to be change,” Mrs Willgoose said. “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.
“There needs to be serious consequences for knives being found in schools, and not just shoved under the carpet.”
Earlier this year, the family lawyers claimed an independent report found “several missed opportunities” before the 15-year-old was murdered, including alleged failures by the school to adequately investigate concerns his killer, Mohammed Umar Khan, also 15 at the time, carried weapons. The school has since implemented “robust measures”, the managing trust said in February.
Mrs Willgoose said schools should install knife arches to ensure children were protected, but said many schools had not been supportive. “They are more worried about reputation and not scaring the parents,” she added.
Meanwhile, teachers have said they feel under threat, including former physics teacher Vincent Uzomah, who gave up the profession 10 years ago when he was stabbed in the stomach by a pupil at school in Bradford.
Mr Uzomah, who is now a lecturer at the University of Salford, said: “These are incidents that don’t happen in every school, and it doesn’t happen regularly, but when it happens, they have an enormous impact. For me, it nearly ended my life, and I get a shudder when I see a new case on the news.”
He added: “There needs to be a greater focus on the attitude from home, the attitude in society, and then not isolating these kinds of kids, but to put in place measures to safeguard the lives of teachers and other students to ensure that it is a safe environment for all.”
The knife offences in schools come at a time when knife crime overall fell nine per cent in the year to September 2025, according to Office for National Statistics Figures. Labour has set a target of reducing knife crime by 50 per cent.
On Thursday, a new National Knife Crime Centre was opened in London, where policing experts will tackle offenders who sell and distribute weapons online, often referred to as the “grey market”.
Following the attacks on two boys at Kingsbury High School in Brent in February, education minister Georgia Gould said ministers would look at security in schools.
Department for Education (DfE) guidance states CCTV and systems that detect intrusion, such as alarm systems, strong perimeter fencing, and security lighting, can help prevent attacks.
In the West Midlands, Dudley Academies Trust spent around £50,000 on knife arches for its four secondary schools. Chief executive Jo Higgins said schools that didn’t take appropriate measures were “vulnerable” to violence.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said there had been a number of “appalling and tragic events involving knives”, but tackling it needed “a more concerted, society-wide response”.
He said schools already conducted searches and taught about the dangers of knife crime, and when a pupil was found in possession of a knife, it was treated “very seriously”.
But he cautioned: “There is a limit to what schools can be expected to do. They are part of their communities, not fortresses, and teachers are teachers, not security guards. Moreover, schools have very limited budgets and extending on-site security would require significant investment.”
Tory shadow home secretary Chris Philp said he would introduce a stronger approach to violence and poor behaviour in schools if in government, including sending pupils excluded for carrying a knife to “more appropriate settings”, such as Pupil Referral Units.
He said: “We need firm, early intervention backed by real consequences, so this is stopped long before it reaches the school gates.”
A government spokesperson said: “As part of the government’s mission to halve knife crime within a decade, nearly 60,000 knives have already been taken off Britain’s streets, and knife homicides have fallen by 27 per cent. “We are also working with schools, police and youth services on prevention and early intervention to identify young people most at risk.”
