There are a wealth of statistics in relation to bullying both in the UK and overseas and you will regularly see bullying reported in the media. Research from the Department for Education looking at pupils in year 10 found that:
- 40% of young people were bullied in the last 12 months
- 6% of all young people had experienced bullying daily. 9% between once a week and once a month.
- Most common form of bullying was name calling (including via text and email) at 26%, followed by exclusion from social groups at 18%
- 21% of children who had experienced bullying daily had truanted in the last 12 months - 3 times the proportion of those who were not bullied. Young people who had experienced bullying daily also most likely to truant for the longest period of time. Girls almost twice a likely to truant because of bullying than boys.
- 24% of children bullied most days also most likely to be kept off school by their parents.
- 15% of children who had experienced bullying daily had been excluded from school in the last 12 months (compared to 5% of children not bullied)
- 1 in 4 young people with SEN (special educational needs) experienced violence (actual or threatened)
- Actual violence was more likely to always take place at school compared to other forms of bullying
The Department for Education’s latest National Behaviour Survey (2025) provides an important snapshot of what life is like for pupils in England’s schools:
- 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.
Findings from the pupil bullying and wellbeing questionnaires as part of the Anti-Bullying Alliance's United Against Bullying programme with almost 65,000 pupils across England found that:
- Almost 1 in 4 pupils reported they were bullied a lot or always
- Pupils in receipt of Free School Meals (FSM) (28%) and those with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) (29%) are significantly more likely to be frequently bullied.
- 6% of pupils report frequently bullying others.
- 5% of pupils report frequently being bullied online.
- Pupils who report being bullied, either face to face or online, have poorer experiences at school than those not being bullied.
- Pupils who report bullying others, either face to face or online, are the most likely to report poor experiences at school.
- Disabled children and those with SEN were around twice as likely to be bullied.
- The risk of being frequently bullied declined with age.
- Males were more likely to be victimised than females.
- Disabled children and those with SEN were three times more likely to both be bullied and bully others (‘bully-victims).
- Pupils at secondary schools are significantly more likely to report having poor school experiences than primary, infant and other schools.
- Both pupils that are bullied and those that report bullying others are significantly more likely to report that they don’t feel they belong at school, they don’t get on with their teachers, they don’t feel safe at school and they don’t like going to school.
- Pupils who have been bullied and those who bully others (both face to face and online) are significantly more likely to report poor wellbeing – with those who bully the most likely to report poor wellbeing.
- Pupils at secondary school have the poorest wellbeing compared to those at primary, infant and other schools.