Schools to treat antisemitism as distinct safeguarding risk under new review

On a Tuesday morning in October 2025, two men were killed in an attack at a synagogue in Manchester. That single incident became the catalyst for a broader reckoning: the government commissioned a formal review into antisemitism across England's schools and colleges, asking how institutions should respond to what had become, by any measure, a growing problem.

The review, led by Sir David Bell, the former chief inspector of schools, spent months gathering evidence from pupils, teachers, headteachers, governors, and parents across state and independent schools. What emerged was a picture of Jewish children navigating an educational system that had never quite named antisemitism as its own distinct threat. Instead, it had been folded into general measures against racism and bullying—treated as one form of prejudice among many, rather than as something requiring its own framework, its own training, its own response. Bell's review, due to be presented to Parliament on Wednesday, recommends a fundamental shift: schools and colleges should recognize antisemitism as a specific category of harm and take explicit action against it. The government is expected to accept all 27 recommendations.

The numbers tell part of the story. In the first half of 2025, the Community Security Trust, which advises the Jewish community on security matters, recorded 112 antisemitic incidents in schools. In the same period in 2026, that figure jumped to 178—a 59 percent increase and the highest level ever recorded for the first six months of any year. The review found that Jewish schoolchildren were experiencing regular harassment and abuse. At some Jewish schools, headteachers were spending more time managing security arrangements than on educational leadership.

Visit Yavneh College in Hertfordshire and you see what this looks like in practice. High gates. High fences. Security cameras. Four full-time security staff. Lock-in drills—sometimes called "in-vacuation" drills—have become routine, even for the youngest pupils. Spencer Lewis, the executive headteacher, described security as an "innate part" of his role. Staff and pupils have grown so accustomed to these measures that they barely register them anymore. A Year 6 pupil named Livi said the drills were "a bit scary sometimes, but you know you're safe." Her classmate Sadie added: "It's sad that we can't be equal to everyone else, but people don't like us just because of the way we are."

But safety inside the school gates does not extend beyond them. A group of older pupils told the BBC they feel targeted by reports of antisemitic attacks elsewhere in the country—incidents at other Jewish schools, harassment on commutes, confrontations at sports fixtures. Some said they were reluctant to wear skullcaps or necklaces bearing the Star of David outside school. A Year 9 pupil named Ilan put it plainly: "Other religions get to be out and wear their necklaces and be proud—I don't get why Jewish people can't do it as much."

The Bell review recommends dedicated training for teachers, more consistent recording and reporting of incidents, and better education about antisemitism and contemporary Jewish life. It also calls for stronger guidance on political impartiality in schools. The government is expected to establish a hotline where school leaders can access immediate advice on tackling antisemitism. Schools will be encouraged to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism, though adoption cannot be made compulsory. That definition has been embraced by 47 countries and most British universities, though some of its examples have proven controversial.

Sir David Bell, now vice-chancellor of the University of Sunderland, framed the review's scope beyond any single community. "This is not just a report for Jewish children in Jewish schools," he told the BBC. "This is for all children and young people in all schools and colleges. We know that antisemitism crosses all boundaries." The Board of Deputies of British Jews said that treating antisemitism as a safeguarding issue would create an explicit duty on all schools to address it as they would any other threat to children's safety, strengthening accountability across the system. The Department for Education declined to comment before the review's formal publication.