Schools in England have a legal duty to ensure the safety of all children and young people and to prevent all forms of bullying. Head teachers also have powers to respond to bullying outside of school premises, and to search for and confiscate items that may have been used to bully or intimidate (The Education and Inspections Act 2006: The Education Act 2011).

In Spring 2012 the Department for Education published 'Preventing and tackling bullying in schools - advice for headteachers and governing bodies'. This was last updated in February 2013. This makes the legal duties of schools and colleges clear and is essential reading for all school staff.

Ofsted inspect and regulate services which care for children and young people, including schools. The revised Ofsted framework includes a strong focus on bullying with inspectors looking at schools' actions to tackle all forms of bullying and harassment, including cyber-bullying and prejudice-based bullying relating to special educational need, sexual orientation, sex, race, religion and belief, gender reassignment or disability.

Schools as public bodies have duties under The Equality Act 2010 to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation. The Department for Education has recently published advice for schools on the Equality Act 2010.

Other information that you may find useful:

Inspecting e-safety - briefing for section 5 inspection (January 2013), Ofsted

Inspecting equalities - briefing for section 5 inspection (January 2013), Ofsted

Exploring the school's actions to prevent homophobic bullying - briefing for section 5 inspetion (January 2013), Ofsted

Ensuring good behaviour in schools (April 2012), Department for Education

No place for bullying (June 2012), Ofsted, Evaluating the effectiveness of schools to prevent and tackle bullying

Parents' and Young People's Complaints about Schools: A Summary for Practitioners, DfE, 2012

Understanding vulnerable young people: Analysis from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England
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Matt Barnes, Rosie Green and Andy Ross - NatCen. Research Report DFE-RR118. This study investigated multiple disadvantage among young people. The aim of the research was to estimate the potential numbers of vulnerable young people who are the most in need of targeted, supportive interventions and on what areas these interventions should focus. The report identified being bullied as among the key risk factors common to many of the disadvantaged groups.

Characteristics of bullying victims in schools (2010)
This study by the National Centre for Social Research identifies factors associated with being bullied, using data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) which tracked over 15,000 young people between 2004 and 2006, interviewing them at 14, 15 and 16 years old.

Tellus4 National Report (2010)
Report of the fourth edition of a survey of pupils in years 6, 8 and 10. The 2009 survey included more than 250,000 pupils, and questions covered health and well-being, drug and alcohol use, future plans and and experiences of bullying. Answers to the questions on bullying form the basis of National Indicator 69, which gives a measure of how many children have experienced bullying

The former government produced a suite of guidance documents relating to bullying called Safe to Learn (bullying in schools) and Safe from Bullying (bullying in the community). While these are no longer government guidance they are still a useful resource for learning more about preventing and tackling various forms of bullying.