Weapons in schools

Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FOI/25/007794/M

Version Date: 15/04/2025

The Performance & Analysis Department has provided the following information.

Data Limitations:                                       

Crime and Outcome report only dates back to April 1st 2019.                                   

Data is based on identified suspects/offenders. Crimes where no suspect/offender was identified has not been included.                                          

1. The number of crimes reports where a child under the age of 18 was in possession of a weapon on school/further education premises?
   
   Please provide data for the following calendar years: 2014, 2019, 2023, 2024
   
   Within this - please provide:
   Breakdown of type of weapons used (please list examples if you cannot provide a full breakdown)
   Breakdown of the ages of the children (e.g. Under 4, 4-6, 6-8, 8-10, 10-12, 12-14, 14-16, 16-18)
   Breakdown of gender (male and female)

Data Processing:

Crimes recorded on crime information system - NICHE                                              

Cancelled crimes excluded, Non notifiable crimes excluded                                      

Qliksense Report: Occurrence - People Links (all)                                                       

Filtered by crimed date: January 1st 2014 to December 31st 2014 (the same for 2019, 2023 and 2024)                                                 

Suspect or Offender: Yes                                                  

Age Range at Time: <18                                                    

Offence group:                                                        

Possession of weapons                                                     

Offence description:                                                           

Having an article with a blade or point on school premises/further education premises                                                    

Possess article with blade / point on school premises (recordable)                           

Possess article with blade / sharply pointed article on school premises (recordable)

Possess offensive weapon on school premises/further education premises (recordable)                                                 

There were 70 crimes recorded where a person aged 17 or under was in possession of a weapon on school premises.           
                                                           

Please note, there may be more than one suspect/offender attached to a single crime and as such, figures for the number of suspects/offenders may not match the number of crimes.         
                                                                                                           

2. The number of crime reports where a child under the age of 18 has committed the following offences on school/further education premises?
   
   Please provide data for each offence for the following calendar years: 2014, 2019, 2023, 2024
   
   a) Common Assault & Battery
   b) ABH (s47)
   b) GBH (s20)
   c) Wounding with or without a weapon (s18)
   
   Within this - please provide
   Breakdown of the number of victims who was a pupil
   Breakdown of the number of victims who was a member of staff
   Breakdown of the ages of the children (e.g. Under 4, 4-6, 6-8, 8-10, 10-12, 12-14, 14-16, 16-18)
   Breakdown of gender (male and female)
   
   

There were 1136 crimes recorded where a person aged 17 or under committed one of the following offences on school premises.