Almost one in five teachers have seen students with knives in England’s schools, Sky News survey finds

Published

1 week ago

February 14, 2025

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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.

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.

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.”

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.”

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”.

UK

M4 and M48 closed after human remains found

Published

6 hours ago

February 23, 2025

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M4 and M48 closed after human remains found

Two motorways have been shut after human remains were found on the road.

Several drivers reported a body on the carriageway between junctions 20 and 21 of the M4 – between Almondsbury and Awkley – at about 6.40pm this evening.

The body is believed to be that of a man in his forties, whose next of kin have been told.

A police investigation to establish how the person came to be on the motorway continues.

Parts of the M4 and M48 motorways near Bristol are likely to remain closed until the early hours of Sunday morning, Avon and Somerset Police said.

In a statement, the force said: “Police are keen to hear from anyone who was travelling along that stretch of the M4 has any relevant information or dashcam footage.”

The road closures were likely to cause significant delays in and out of Wales tonight, with closures starting on the English side of the Prince of Wales Bridge and the Severn Bridge.

National Highways said the M4 is shut in both directions between junctions 20 and 21, while the M48 eastbound is closed from junction 1 near Aust.

The links from the M5 junction 15 south to the M4 junction 20 west, and the M5 junction 16 north to M4 junction 20 west were also closed.

UK

Starmer asks US to stand by Ukraine with security guarantee as bad peace deal would be ‘disaster’ for all

Published

7 hours ago

February 23, 2025

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Starmer asks US to stand by Ukraine with security guarantee as bad peace deal would be 'disaster' for all

Sir Keir Starmer has urged Donald Trump to stand by Ukraine with a security guarantee as he warned a bad peace deal would be a “disaster for everyone”.

The prime minister is due to meet the US president for talks in Washington DC next week amid fragile relations between America and Europe after Mr Trump launched a verbal attack on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The US president called Ukraine’s leader a “dictator” on Wednesday and later said Sir Keir and French President Emmanuel Macron, both of whom will visit the White House in the coming days, “haven’t done anything” to end the war.

Sir Keir said a good peace “can only be won through strength” and Ukraine “must have a voice in negotiations about its future”.

And he warned that a “peace deal which does not stop Putin from attacking again would be a disaster for everyone”.

Writing in The Sun on Sunday, he said Kyiv needs strong security guarantees “so the peace will last” and America “must be part of that guarantee”.

This could mean providing air defence and a promise that the US will come to the aid of a NATO country if Russia attacks them, the paper reported.

So far, talks aimed at ending the war have been taking place between US and Russian delegations in Saudi Arabia, which have not included the Ukrainians.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey has said “any negotiations about Ukraine cannot happen without Ukraine. We all want the fighting to end, but an insecure peace risks more war”.

‘Turn the screws’ on Russia

The third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is on Monday.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said he will unveil new sanctions to “turn the screws” on Russia on Monday to coincide with the anniversary.

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Sir Keir also said the UK must increase its defence spending and play a bigger role in NATO.

And he is open to British troops playing a role in any European force in Ukraine after a peace agreement.

He added: “This is not something I say lightly.”

Sir Keir, along with other European allies and UK opposition parties, has backed Mr Zelensky as a “democratically elected leader”.

Also, Washington has warned that Europe must shoulder more of the cost of its own security.

Sir Keir is expected to use his upcoming trip to the US to confirm a timeline to raise UK defence spending from 2.3% to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) in a bid to ease tensions.

It comes amid pressure from defence chiefs and opposition critics including Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who wrote to the prime minister on Saturday demanding he set out a plan for meeting the target.

:: Education secretary Bridget Phillipson, campaigner for global health and education Sarah Brown, and shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge will be discussing all the latest political stories in the UK and around the world on the Trevor Phillips on Sunday show on Sky News from 8.30am

UK

Girl, 3, dies after tram and van crash in Manchester city centre

Published

18 hours ago

February 22, 2025

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Girl, 3, dies after tram and van crash in Manchester city centre

A three-year-old girl has died after a collision between a tram and a van in Manchester city centre.

The girl was taken to hospital but died from her injuries, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

“No arrests have been made and inquiries are ongoing,” the force said.

The child was a pedestrian and was not travelling in either the tram or van, GMP said.

The fatal collision happened on Mosley Street shortly before 10am, a Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) spokesperson said.

“All of our thoughts are with her family and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time. We are supporting police with their investigation,” a statement said.

A North West Ambulance Service spokesperson said two ambulances, a rapid response vehicle and two air ambulance crews attended the scene.

TfGM said there was continued disruption across the Metrolink after the incident and advised people to check the Bee Network website and app for the latest travel information.

Manchester‘s Bee Network said: “Due to a road traffic collision on Mosley Street in the city centre, no tram services are operating between St Peter’s Square and Piccadilly Gardens.”

An X post from GMP’s traffic officers said: “Our officers are currently in attendance at a collision, involving a tram and another vehicle in Manchester city centre.

“We are presently trying to establish the circumstances however we envisage there will be a lengthy closure of surrounding streets near to St Peters Square.”