'Antisemitism crosses all boundaries,' review finds rampant antisemitism in English schools
The Community Security Trust recorded 178 antisemitic incidents in schools in the first half of 2026, up from 112 a year earlier.
Three in five Jewish students in English schools and colleges have experienced antisemitism, according to a government-commissioned review exclusively revealed on Sky News. The review, led by former schools inspector Sir David Bell, made 27 recommendations, all of which the government is poised to accept in full.
The official review is expected to be released on Wednesday.
A survey conducted for the review found that one in five students had witnessed antisemitism, and fewer than half of those surveyed felt it would be addressed if reported. Bell told Sky News he was “very struck” by the evidence of rising antisemitism in schools, and by how much of it goes unreported or unchallenged by students and teachers.
“A general commitment to tackling racism or prejudice or hate has not properly identified antisemitism as a particular kind of hate,” Bell said. “We do need to name antisemitism as a particular kind of prejudice and hate, because I think if you don’t name it, you don’t actually know what you’re tackling or what you’re going to be able to do to respond to it.”
The review would require schools and colleges to recognize antisemitism as a distinct category of harm and take explicit action against it.
Recommendations leaked to Sky News include encouraging schools to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism, antisemitism awareness training for teachers, and a national hotline where school leaders can get quick advice.
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Others call for antisemitism to be added to online safety and safeguarding policies, media literacy lessons on online hatred and conspiracy theories, and Holocaust education that treats antisemitism as a central theme. Religious Education classes would cover modern-day Judaism, a communications campaign would run in transport hubs near Jewish schools, and Ofsted and the Independent Schools Inspectorate would hold schools accountable.
Bell also called for stronger guidance on political impartiality so students can “debate topical and difficult issues without feeling that teachers are imposing their own views on students.”
Jonathan Frisher, a 17-year-old Jewish student from Cheshire, said he was the only Jewish student at his school and endured bullying that included comments that he belonged in a gas chamber. “The burden was often left on me as a 12-year-old Jewish student to explain to my peers why this antisemitism was so wrong,” he said.
The review was launched in March after antisemitic episodes including the attack at Manchester’s Heaton Park synagogue in October last year. The Community Security Trust found reports of antisemitism in schools reached their highest level on record in the first half of 2026, rising from 112 incidents to 178 over the same period a year earlier.
A Board of Deputies of British Jews spokesperson said treating the issue as a safeguarding matter would create “an explicit duty on all schools to address this” and “strengthen accountability.”
The Department for Education intends to accept all 27 recommendations, with progress on implementation to be assessed in a year, Sky News was told. The department declined to comment on the leaked recommendations.