New national data reveals the realities of bullying, belonging and behaviour in England’s schools

Summary

• One in five pupils in years 7 to 13 said they had been bullied in the past year.
• Bullying has decreased slightly since last year but remains a significant issue for younger pupils, especially in year 7 to 9.
• Appearance based bullying continues to be the most common reason pupils believe they are targeted.
• Nearly one in three pupils who were bullied said some of it happened online.
• Most bullying still takes place face-to-face in school settings.
• Pupils’ sense of safety and belonging at school has improved compared with last year.
• Reports of calm and orderly school environments have risen, although fewer pupils say they feel motivated to learn.
• Teachers continue to report that misbehaviour affects their wellbeing, though slightly less than the previous year.
• Only a small proportion of pupils feel that behaviour rules are applied fairly all of the time.

Introduction

The Department for Education’s latest National Behaviour Survey provides an important snapshot of what life is like for pupils in England’s schools. The survey brings together the voices of pupils, parents, teachers and school leaders to build a national picture of behaviour, safety and wellbeing. This year’s findings show some encouraging signs, including improvements in pupils’ sense of belonging and safety. However, bullying remains a major issue, affecting one in five pupils, and appearance based and identity related bullying continue to be widespread. These findings underline the continued importance of whole school efforts to create inclusive, supportive environments where all children feel safe, valued and able to thrive.

Link to Survey findings

What the research is

The NBS 2024-25 is a large-scale, national survey designed to monitor pupil behaviour in state-funded primary, secondary and special schools in England. According to the report, it draws data from multiple respondent groups: school leaders, teachers, pupils and parents/carers. 

Specifically:

• The survey waves were run in December 2024, February 2025, March 2025, May 2025 and June 2025. 
• The pupil and parent/learner voice panels ask pupils in years 7-13 and parents of pupils in state-schools. 
• The research is weighted to be nationally representative of the relevant populations. 
• The report is structured around four main thematic areas: (1) school behaviour culture and policy; (2) behaviour management; (3) school environment and experience; (4) frequency and impact of misbehaviour (including bullying). 

According to the report — for one wave in May 2025 — the unweighted sample sizes were:

• n = 1,025 for primary and secondary school leaders. 
• n = 1,010 for primary and secondary teachers. 
• n = 3,067 for pupils in years 7–13.

In short, this is a significant dataset which gives us fresh evidence about what is happening in schools from multiple perspectives – which makes it relevant for ABA’s interest in bullying, school culture, safety and inclusion.

How the research was done

Here are some key methodological points, so we properly understand the strengths (and limitations) of the data:

• The survey uses the DfE’s “omnibus” panels: the School and College Voice (SCV) for school leaders and teachers, and the Parent, Pupil and Learner Voice (PPLV) for pupils and parents. 
• Respondents were sampled randomly (using, for example, the School Workforce Census for teachers/leaders; the National Pupil Database for pupils) and responded online. 
• Response rates vary and the weighting process is described in the technical part of the report. 
• The report includes margins of error, confidence intervals and notes that care should be taken when comparing across years because of methodological changes (such as inclusion of special schools in the panel from 2023-24). 
• The survey asks direct questions about bullying, including whether pupils have been a victim in the past 12 months (including online bullying) and for their perceptions of reasons for bullying. 

Because of these features the dataset is robust and nationally relevant, but of course it remains self-reported, and issues of perception, differing respondent groups and timing should be borne in mind.

Bullying: what the findings tell us

Here we focus on the findings most relevant to bullying, and then draw out some of the broader implications for school culture, safety, belonging and wellbeing.

Key bullying figures: 

• In May 2025, 21% of pupils in years 7–13 said they had been a victim of bullying (for any reason) in the past 12 months. 
• This represents a decrease from 24% in April 2024. These results follow in line with other surveys in recent years.
• Among those who reported bullying, 19% of pupils said they had been bullied by pupils at their school; 4% said by someone else (outside school) in that period. 
• By key stage: pupils in KS3 reported higher rates (25%) compared to KS4 (19%) and KS5 (11%) of being victims of bullying. 
• Regarding location: among those bullied, 29% said at least some of the bullying had been online. This is consistent with last year (29%). Meanwhile, 87% said at least some of the bullying happened in person (a slight fall from 90%). 
• Perceived reasons for bullying (in-person): most common was “the way they looked” (44%) followed by SEN/disability (14%), sexual orientation (10%), race/ethnicity (9%), sex (8%), nationality (5%), religion/belief (4%). 
• Perceived reasons for bullying (online): “the way they looked” (37%), SEN/disability (12%), sexual orientation (10%), sex (8%), race/ethnicity (8%), religion/belief (5%), nationality (4%). 

What that means for bullying

These findings are important for ABA’s focus for several reasons:

• The fact that around one in five pupils report being victims of bullying underscores that despite efforts and improvements, bullying remains a substantial issue in secondary schools.
• The decline (from 24% to 21%) is positive, suggesting some progress — while reminding us there is still work to do.
• The persistently high proportion of bullying happening in person (87%) indicates that while online bullying remains a concern, the face-to-face school environment remains the main arena for bullying behaviour.
• The fact that more than one in ten reports the reason being the way they look (44% face-to-face, 37% online) highlights the importance of appearance-based bullying and body image issues in schools. This suggests that appearance and body diversity remain key vulnerabilities.
• The listing of other reasons (SEND, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, sex, nationality, religion) indicates that bullying is still deeply tied to protected characteristics or perceived difference. It reinforces the need for inclusive, identity-aware anti-bullying strategies.
• The age gradient (higher in KS3 than KS5) shows that younger secondary pupils may be more vulnerable to bullying. This may reflect transitional challenges (moving to secondary) or peer group dynamics in younger years.
• The consistency in online bullying proportion suggests that online and hybrid bullying remains stable rather than significantly increasing (in this dataset) — but still a sizeable minority (almost 30% of bullied pupils) experience online elements.

Associated findings: behaviour, belonging, safety, environment

To give the full context for bullying, the report also offers headline findings on behaviour culture, safety, belonging, motivation and pupil-staff relations. Here are some relevant highlights:

• Safety and belonging: In May 2025, 80% of year 7–13 pupils said they felt safe at school ‘every day’ or ‘most days’. This is a statistically significant rise from 73% in May 2024. 
• The proportion of pupils who said they felt they belonged at their school ‘every day’ or ‘most days’ rose from 57% in May 2024 to 69% in May 2025. 
• Behaviour culture: 18% of year 7–13 pupils said that rules were applied fairly to all pupils “all of the time” (consistent with the previous wave). 
• School environment: 57% of pupils said their school had been calm and orderly ‘every day’ or ‘most days’ in the past week (May 2025) – up from 54% in May 2024. 
• Motivation to learn: However, 70 % of pupils said they felt motivated to learn (May 2025), which is a statistically significant drop from 75% in April 2024. 
• Impact on wellbeing: 73% of teachers reported that pupil misbehaviour had had a negative impact on their health or wellbeing to any extent in the past week (May 2025) – down from 78% in May 2024. 

Implications for anti-bullying work at ABA

Given these findings, here are some implications and potential priorities for the Anti-Bullying Alliance’s and our member’s work:

• Focus early in secondary – the higher bullying rates in KS3 highlight that transition years and early secondary phases remain critical for proactive anti-bullying work.
• Appearance and identity as key axes – since “the way they looked” remains the most-frequent reason pupils perceive for bullying, ABA resources should explicitly address appearance-based bullying, body image, and peer comparison. We will seek to build on our work already available on appearance targeted bullying including our CPD course. 
• Sustained online/face-to-face integration – although face-to-face bullying dominates, nearly 30 % of bullied pupils report online elements. Anti-bullying strategies must account for hybrid interactions (in school, on the way to school, online).
• Belonging and safety matter – the improvements in pupils’ sense of safety and belonging are encouraging; ABA should continue promoting interventions that strengthen whole-school belonging, inclusive cultures and peer support, which are protective factors against bullying. See results from our Belonging Matters pilot programme.
• Teacher and staff wellbeing – high proportions of teachers report misbehaviour impacting their wellbeing. ABA should highlight the role of staff support, training and wellbeing in creating positive behaviour cultures and in effective anti-bullying responses.
• Consistency in rules application – only 18 % of pupils feel rules are fairly applied all the time. This suggests fairness and consistency remain challenges. Evidence shows fairness in very interlinked with how pupils feel they belong in school. ABA guidance may emphasise the importance of transparent, consistently enforced, inclusive behaviour policies as part of anti-bullying culture.
• Motivation to learn and school climate – the drop in pupil motivation to learn suggests a school climate in which bullying and misbehaviour still hamper engagement. ABA can use this to argue for anti-bullying work as supporting not just safety but also learning engagement and outcomes.

Conclusion

The National Behaviour Survey 2024-25 offers a rich and timely evidence base of pupil behaviour, culture, safety and bullying in English schools. For the Anti-Bullying Alliance this data provides renewed impetus: while the reduction in the bullying rate (to 21 %) is welcome, the fact remains that one in five pupils reports being bullied, and many of the underlying drivers (appearance, identity, online behaviour) remain. The associated findings on belonging, safety, behaviour culture and staff wellbeing reinforce that anti-bullying work cannot operate in isolation: it must connect to whole-school cultures of fairness, inclusivity, belonging and positive behaviour, as well as to digital citizenship and staff support.

For schools engaging with ABA’s programmes (including our flagship United Against Bullying whole-school programme), these findings underline the importance of embedding anti-bullying approaches that speak to the full experience of pupils (online and offline), build strong relationships, ensure fairness and consistency, taking a whole-school approach and support for the wellbeing of both pupils and staff.