On a chilly February morning in Sheffield, a tragedy unfolded that would send shockwaves through the education system across England and Wales. Harvey Willgoose, a 15-year-old student at All Saints Catholic High School, lost his life at the hands of a fellow pupil wielding a hunting knife. The incident, reported by both BBC and the Daily Mail, has since become a grim symbol of a growing epidemic: children, some as young as four, are bringing knives into schools.
The scale of the problem is staggering. According to a Freedom of Information request by the BBC, police recorded 1,304 offences involving knives or sharp objects at schools and sixth form colleges in England and Wales in 2024 alone. Startlingly, at least 10% of these were committed by primary school-aged children—those aged 11 or younger. The Daily Mail adds that these figures reflect a broader surge in violence, with nearly 100,000 violent offences recorded in British classrooms from 2021 to 2024.
Some of the details are almost too shocking to believe. Kent Police documented an assault involving a four-year-old with a knife, classified as "assault with injury - malicious wounding." In the West Midlands, police reported a six-year-old who brought a flick knife to class and told staff, "I have a plan... I am going to kill [name of pupil]." The same force logged a five-year-old carrying a 10-inch kitchen knife to school simply to "show his friends," while another six-year-old arrived with a meat cleaver. Cheshire Police responded to a five-year-old in Chester who had brought a kitchen knife to school. Just last week, an eight-year-old was found with a knife at a Suffolk school, according to the Daily Mail.
In most cases involving children under the age of ten, the police are not the prosecuting body, as these children are below the age of criminal responsibility. Instead, alternative agencies step in. But the frequency and seriousness of these incidents have left parents, teachers, and policymakers reeling.
Caroline Willgoose, Harvey's mother, has become a vocal advocate for change. "Kids are going to school frightened," she told the BBC. "I always thought knives was a gang-culture type of thing. Never in a million years would I have thought there were knives inside school." The pain of losing her son is still raw. "I can't describe the pain... we need to get into schools and educate kids of the seriousness and the pure devastation that carrying knives can bring." Caroline is now calling for government funding to install metal detectors—so-called "knife arches"—in all UK schools and colleges, hoping such measures might deter future tragedies.
The demand for security technology in schools has soared. Byron Logue, managing director of Interconnective Security Products, told the BBC that his company sold 35 knife arches to schools between March 2024 and March 2025—a threefold increase from the previous year. In the same period, more than 100 handheld metal-detecting wands were purchased by schools. "I think we've reached a stage now where we can acknowledge that there is a problem nationally in the country with regards to knife crime, particularly amongst the youth," Logue stated.
Some schools are taking matters into their own hands. Beacon Hill Academy in Dudley recently installed a permanent knife arch. For many students, the sight of airport-style security at their school is both unsettling and reassuring. "You think about what it's there for and what children do bring to school, and you never know," said 16-year-old Evie to the BBC. Thirteen-year-old Archie added, "You've got to keep in mind it was put in for a safety thing. So, it's kind of scary on the one hand, but at the same time reassuring." Headteacher Sukhjot Dhami explained, "Whatever it takes to keep young people safe."
The types of knives confiscated range from pen knives and butterfly knives to machetes and even swords. The BBC notes that while the overall number of knife incidents in 2024 was slightly down from the previous year, the number of violent offences—such as assaults—has increased. Nearly 80% of offences were committed by boys, predominantly teenagers, and male victims outnumbered female victims.
The motivations behind carrying knives vary, but fear and self-protection are recurring themes. In a Sheffield gym, three teenagers candidly admitted to the BBC that they had brought knives to school. One 15-year-old recounted, "The first time I took a knife in, was when a kid sent out a message saying, 'I'm going to kill you this time.' So I asked one of my friends to give me a knife and I paid about £30 for it." Another, 18, said he started carrying a knife after being attacked and slashed on the hand by a fellow pupil. "I just felt like I need to protect myself," he explained. When pressed on why they broke the law, a third teenager replied, "You just got to take your precautions. Nowhere's safe really."
Trevor Chrouch, a former professional bodybuilder who now mentors youth in Sheffield, believes fear is driving the trend. "I think kids are bringing knives into school every day. Just like their mobile phone in their pocket, they've got their knife in the other pocket. It's because they're scared," he told the BBC. Chrouch’s gym offers free access to secondary school pupils, hoping to provide a positive alternative to the dangerous path of carrying weapons.
High-profile incidents have only intensified the sense of urgency. Less than a year before Harvey’s death, a 13-year-old girl attacked two teachers and a fellow pupil with a knife at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Carmarthenshire, Wales. According to the Daily Mail, the attacker carried a knife to school daily and announced her intentions to stab a teacher on the morning of the attack. The trauma from such events lingers; Liz Hopkin, one of the injured teachers, said she could never return to the classroom.
Harvey’s murder has also raised questions about school accountability. The Daily Mail reports that the perpetrator was not searched on the day of the attack, despite being at the center of a knife scare a week earlier and having a known history of possessing dangerous weapons. Even when Harvey warned a teacher that the boy seemed to be hiding a knife in his jacket, no action was taken—and Harvey was dead within the hour.
Amid this crisis, political and educational leaders are under pressure to respond. At the Conservative Party conference, shadow education secretary Laura Trott declared a "zero-tolerance" policy: "One knife and you are out. If you assault a teacher then you are out. If you sexually assault someone then you are out." Matt Wrack, general secretary of the NASUWT teachers’ union, argued that cuts to youth services and the influence of social media are fueling the problem. "We believe social media is fuelling some of the violence we are seeing in schools at the same time as youth services have been stripped away from our communities," he told the Daily Mail. Wrack called for stronger regulation of online platforms and a reinvestment in youth services.
The government, for its part, insists it is taking action. A spokesperson told the BBC and Daily Mail that its Young Futures programme aims to address root causes and support vulnerable young people early on. Schools are empowered to implement security measures, including knife arches, and the government has launched the largest-ever national knife surrender scheme. Stricter rules for online knife sales are being enforced under "Ronan’s Law," which came into effect in August 2025.
Yet, as the Association of Schools and College Leaders points out, "More than a decade of cuts to community policing and youth outreach programmes has meant school leaders, too often, find themselves with little or no support," said general secretary Pepe Di'lasio to the BBC. The challenge is immense and multifaceted, demanding not just security measures but a deeper commitment to education, prevention, and community support.
The harrowing stories of Harvey Willgoose and others serve as a stark reminder: the issue of knives in schools is not confined to headlines or statistics—it is a daily reality affecting children, families, and educators. The path forward will require more than metal detectors; it will demand a concerted effort from every corner of society to ensure that schools are once again places of safety and learning, not fear.
