Police recorded an average of nearly five sexual crimes against children aged 12 and younger every day in primary and secondary schools across England and Wales between 2021 and 2025, according to analysis by The Guardian.
The offences included multiple rapes, the investigation found. Lawyers and campaigners described the scale of child-on-child sexual abuse in schools as "horrifying".
The Guardian's analysis of police data covered a four-year period from 2021 to 2025. The outlet did not specify the total number of reported offences across this timeframe, but the daily average of nearly five crimes translates to roughly 7,000 incidents over the period.
The investigation examined reports made to police involving children as victims in school settings. The source material does not detail the breakdown of offence types, specific locations, regional variations, or demographic information about victims and perpetrators.
Lawyers and campaigners quoted in The Guardian's reporting responded to the data with concern about institutional failure. The source excerpt does not provide their specific names, the detail of their criticisms, or whether schools or education authorities have responded to the findings.
The Guardian's investigation appears to draw on Freedom of Information requests or similar disclosure of police data. The material supplied does not clarify the methodology used to identify school-related cases or explain any limitations in the data collection or reporting processes that might affect the figures.
The source does not address whether reported incidents have increased or decreased over the five-year period, whether conviction rates follow from these reports, or what safeguarding measures are currently in place in schools.