Lawyers and campaigners have condemned the “horrifying” scale of child-on-child sexual abuse in schools after a Guardian investigation revealed thousands of sexual offences against under-13s, including multiple rapes, are reported to police every year. Close to five sexual crimes against children aged 12 and younger were recorded on average by police every day in primary and secondary schools in England and Wales, according to Guardian analysis of police data for 2021-25. The figures include reports of almost 2,000 rapes and attempted rapes, which is equivalent to an average of one allegation of rape at a school received by the police every single day.
More than a third of the rape victims were children under 13. The new data showed at least 8,500 sexual offences against under-13s were recorded by police as having occurred on school premises or nearby between 2021 and 2025 – equivalent to 4.7 offences reported each day. While most of the police reports did not specify the age of the alleged perpetrator, they are likely to be fellow pupils, and in at least 1,890 of the offences reported as being committed against under-13s the offender was described as under 18.
Girls are more likely to be victims of sexual offences than boys, according to the analysis, which found that close to two-thirds of reported crimes affecting under-13s where the sex of the victim was documented had involved female victims. Responding to the figures, the children’s commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, described peer-on-peer abuse in schools as “widespread, normalised and too often brushed under the carpet”. This is not simply a school or college issue, it is a societal one.” The data, obtained via freedom of information requests, also includes reports of a further 6,140 crimes involving the possession, taking, making or distribution of indecent or prohibited images of children under 18.
This has become a significant problem in schools, particularly with the introduction of AI and deepfakes, but headteachers are hoping phone bans and social media restrictions will help to turn the tide. Andrew Lord, a partner with Leigh Day solicitors who represents survivors of sexual abuse, said: “This new dataset evidences clearly the horrifying true scale of sexual abuse of children within schools. Parents deserve to know that their children are safe while undertaking their education, and anything short of concrete action to tackle this problem is simply not good enough.” The data also detailed reports of at least 2,300 sexual crimes against children aged 13 to 16 and a further 9,100 sexual crimes against those aged 13 or over recorded by police as having happened in or in the vicinity of schools between 2021 and 2025.
Three-quarters of these involved a female victim. The true figure is likely to be significantly higher, since the analysis is based on data provided by 33 police forces that replied to FoI requests, out of a total of 43 in England and Wales. There may also be variation in the ways forces collect data.
Janaya Walker, interim director of the End Violence Against Women (EVAW) campaign, said: “This data is shocking but sadly not surprising, and underlines the urgent need to protect children from sexual violence at school. However, despite what should have been numerous watershed moments, young people continue to be harmed en masse.” Excluding 2021, when schools were closed between January and March due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the rate of sexual offences increased by 4% outside London, with 26.6 offences per 100,000 children under 13 in 2022, rising to 27.6 in 2025. A government spokesperson described the figures as appalling.
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