Children as young as four are bringing knives into schools across England adn Wales, a BBC examination has revealed.
Data obtained thru a Freedom of Facts request shows 1,304 knife or sharp object offences where recorded in schools and sixth form colleges in 2024. Disturbingly, at least 10% of these incidents involved primary school-aged children.
Police in Kent recorded an assault committed by a four-year-old pupil, while officers in the West Midlands reported a six-year-old bringing a flick knife into the classroom. Nearly all police forces – 41 of 43 - responded to the BBC’s request for information. of those providing age and gender data, approximately 80% of offences were carried out by boys, predominantly teenagers.
The findings have prompted calls for increased security measures in schools. Harvey Willgoose’s mother, whose teenage son was murdered by a fellow pupil in Sheffield, is urging the government to fund metal detectors – or “knife arches” – for all UK schools and colleges.
One educational trust in the West Midlands is already taking action, installing permanent metal-detecting arches in all four of its secondary schools due to high rates of knife crime in the area. A teenage boy from Sheffield, who admitted to bringing knives to school, explained, “I just felt like I need to protect myself.”
