Prevalence of bullying

There are a wealth of statistics in relation to bullying both in the UK and overseas and you will regularly see bullying reported in the media.  Research from the Department for Education looking at pupils in year 10 found that:

• 40% of young people were bullied in the last 12 months
• 6% of all young people had experienced bullying daily. 9% between once a week and once a month.
• Most common form of bullying was name calling (including via text and email) at 26%, followed by exclusion from social groups at 18%
• 21% of children who had experienced bullying daily had truanted in the last 12 months  - 3 times the proportion of those who were not bullied.  Young people who had experienced bullying daily also most likely to truant for the longest period of time. Girls almost twice a likely to truant because of bullying than boys. 
• 24% of children bullied most days also most likely to be kept off school by their parents.
• 15% of children who had experienced bullying daily had been excluded from school in the last 12 months (compared to 5% of children not bullied)
• 1 in 4 young people with SEN (special educational needs) experienced violence (actual or threatened)
• Actual violence was more likely to always take place at school compared to other forms of bullying

Research from the Anti-Bullying Alliance in 2016 with over 13,000 pupils aged between 7 and 15 across 44 schools in the UK found:

• 1 in 4 children reported they were bullied a lot or always
• Disabled children and those with SEN were around twice as likely to be bullied
• The risk of being frequently bullied declined with age
• Males were more likely to be victimised than females
• Disabled children and those with SEN were three times more likely to both be bullied and bully others (‘bully-victims)
• Children and young people who were involved in school bullying enjoyed going to school less, had poorer relationships with their teachers, and were less likely to feel safe or included within the school.
• Children who were eligible for free school meals were more likely to be victims of frequent bullying

To find out more about the prevalence of bullying please see our focus on bullying briefing below.