FOI 26756

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: HRC0026756/26

I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 20^th August 2026. Please find below the response to your request:

I would like to request information relating to knife crime incidents occurring on educational premises in Worcestershire.

For each financial year from 2015/16 to the most recent year for which data is available, please provide:

The number of recorded offences and/or incidents occurring on educational premises (including schools, academies, colleges, pupil referral units and other education settings) in Worcestershire involving possession of a bladed article or offensive weapon, threatening a person with a bladed article or offensive weapon, or any other knife crime offence.

For each year, please provide a breakdown of the ages the age of suspects.

Alternatively, if exact ages cannot be provided, an age-group breakdown (for example: under 10, 11-15, 16-17, 18-21, 25+).

Where available, please provide a breakdown showing the type of educational establishment involved (e.g. primary school, secondary school, college, academy, pupil referral unit).

If the data is not held specifically under the term "knife crime", please provide information for relevant offences involving bladed articles or offensive weapons that occurred on educational premises and explain the categories used.

Reply

West Mercia Police have conducted searches and hold the below information in relation to your request.

Caveats:

• There is no specific offence of ‘knife crime’. A knife or sharp weapon can be used in a number of offences in a variety of ways (ie. physical use, threaten with or an image of a knife sent as a threat via social media etc). As such, we have used a number of keywords and filters to search for offences involving knives and sharp instruments.
• To ensure the Force remains compliant with GDPR and MoPI regulations, certain MoPI 3 level data is automatically deleted from Force systems after a period of 6 years. As a result, the data within this FOI will only date back 6 years to reduce confusion and the misinterpretation of data as records prior to 6 years will potentially not be complete or accurate.
• Not all offences have a suspect linked and some may have more than one suspect linked. Therefore, the totals and suspect age group tables should not be expected to match.

The number of recorded offences and/or incidents occurring on educational premises (including schools, academies, colleges, pupil referral units and other education settings) in Worcestershire involving possession of a bladed article or offensive weapon, threatening a person with a bladed article or offensive weapon, or any other knife crime offence.

Table 1: Number of offences involving knives/sharp instruments in Worcestershire educational establishments:

For each year, please provide a breakdown of the ages the age of suspects.

Alternatively, if exact ages cannot be provided, an age-group breakdown (for example: under 10, 11-15, 16-17, 18-21, 25+).

Table 2: Suspect age group (all suspects linked to at least one offence)

Where available, please provide a breakdown showing the type of educational establishment involved (e.g. primary school, secondary school, college, academy, pupil referral unit).

Our crime management system does not differentiate between type/level of educational establishment/school: the return will include all establishments, regardless of level, status, mainstream or specialist education. In addition, a school name may not denote the level of education or specialist education, therefore, we are unable to break the totals down by type setting.

If the data is not held specifically under the term "knife crime", please provide information for relevant offences involving bladed articles or offensive weapons that occurred on educational premises and explain the categories used.

Table 3: Offences involving knives/sharp instruments