Almost one in five teachers have seen students with knives in England’s schools, Sky News survey finds
Almost one in five (18%) secondary school teachers in England have seen pupils with knives in school, according to a special survey commissioned by Sky News.
More than 4,000 teachers responded to our questions, asked via the survey tool Teacher Tapp, which asked about their first-hand experiences of pupils with weapons.
This academic year, 6% of teachers said they had personally seen a child with a knife or bladed article in school. Some told us they had witnessed at least five separate incidents with pupils and weapons in that same time.
“We ignore these results at our peril,” Pepe Di’lasio, from the Association of School and College Leaders, said in response to our findings.
He added there was “no doubt” the survey was evidence of “a growing trend” of the presence of knives in school.
Strikingly, despite recent high-profile knife attacks in UK secondary schools, only 15% of the teachers we surveyed said they had received any formal training or guidance on how to deal with pupils with knives.
And in more deprived socio-economic areas, double the number of teachers said they had seen pupils with knives than teachers in more affluent areas, according to our findings.
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Pepe Di’lasio says he is ‘no doubt’ that there is ‘a growing trend’ of the presence of knives in schools
One former school teacher, who was stabbed by a pupil in 2015, told Sky News he thought that classroom safety has “got worse” since his attack.
Vincent Uzomah, now a university lecturer, was teaching at a secondary school in Bradford when a male student stabbed him in the stomach.
“Even if [your survey] showed only 1% of teachers had seen a knife – the consequence of that 1% can be huge,” Dr Uzomah said.
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‘The education system needs reform,’ says knife attack victim Vincent Uzomah
Dr Uzomah’s attacker, who was then just 14 years old, received an 11-year custodial sentence.
“The boy that stabbed me told his friends that he was going to stab me that day,” Dr Uzomah said, “But no one reported it.
“I thought I was dying. It was an awful feeling and I’d never want anyone to experience that.”
Dr Uzomah received treatment in hospital for eight days after the attack, which led him to leaving his job in the secondary school sector.
He said: “I didn’t go to school that day thinking I’d be attacked, no teacher does. The education system needs reform, something has to be done.
“It cannot continue like this forever.”
File pic: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire
In response to our findings, a Department for Education government spokesperson said that violent incidents in schools “are rare”, but that “all schools should be places of safety and learning”.
“Schools are responsible for setting their own security measures,” the spokesperson said, “and we support them to develop safeguarding frameworks to respond to incidents – including use of metal detectors if appropriate.”
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From January: ‘We need realistic solutions,’ says victim of knife crime
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, in an interview with broadcaster LBC last week, said she would support schools that wished to use walk-through metal detectors, also known as knife arches.
But these cost thousands of pounds, at a time when the Association of School and College Leaders told us school budgets are “absolutely strung to the very end”.
Liverpool have won the Premier League title after a 5-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s men did it in impressive style, turning over Spurs in a convincing win.
It was a rocky start for the Reds after Dominic Solanke put the north London side ahead.
However, fortunes quickly changed in the first half as Liverpool scored three times without a response.
Captain Virgil van Dijk (centre) celebrates. Pic: Reuters
Salah on his knees in celebration after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott (below) and Jarell Quansah celebrate after full-time. Pic: PA
Slot cheers after the full-time whistle. Pic: AP
In the second half, it took until the 63rd minute for Mohamed Salah to make it 4-1 before a fifth followed.
The Reds have won the title in manager Arne Slot’s first season in charge, and move level with fierce rivals Manchester United on 20 league championships.
But it makes them arguably the most successful English club ever as they have won more European Cup or Champions League titles.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports after the final whistle: “It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing.
“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England. (Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”
Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas poses with a Premier League trophy cut out. Pic: Reuters
Manager Arne Slot and his team after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Slot took over last summer from Jurgen Klopp, who guided them to their previous and maiden Premier League title triumph in 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown saw matches played behind closed doors.
He is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in a debut campaign after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte.
Speaking to Sky Sports he said: “They [the players] did an outstanding job today. The main job was to win. Everyone said we had got it already. But we had to make sure and we got over the line.”
Several players, including Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah, played leading roles in both the 2025 and 2020 campaigns.
Van Dijk and Salah recently signed new contracts extending their careers at the club.
Mohamed Salah takes a selfie with fans after scouring the fourth Liverpool goal. Pic: AP
Fans at Anfield during the game. Pic: AP
Fans in the stands at Anfield before full-time. Pic: Reuters
Liverpool will have to wait until the final game of the season – at home to Crystal Palace on 25 May – to be presented with the Premier League trophy.
It will be the first time the club’s fans will have seen their side lift the top-flight title in person since 1990.
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Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
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