Research commissioned by education insurer Ecclesiastical has revealed schools are an attractive target for criminals, as two thirds of schools in the UK (64%) have experienced a crime in the last 12 months.

Schools have suffered an increase in criminal behaviour since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when previous research² from Ecclesiastical found a third (35%) of schools had experienced a crime.

The survey of 500 teachers discovered schools have suffered anti-social behaviour (28%), trespassing (24%), graffiti (23%) and criminal damage (22%) during the past year, representing a steep increase since the height of the pandemic³.

Of those schools that have experienced a crime, more than a third said the crime had been committed by pupils (35%), while three in 10 reported the crime had been committed by ex-pupils (29%) or other people unrelated to the school (29%).

Crime has had a detrimental impact on schools, almost half have experienced an increase in staff anxiety (47%), three in 10 have reported low staff morale (30%) and a quarter have seen an increase in pupil anxiety (25%).

On average, crime over the past 12 months has cost schools more than £13,000.

Schools are being proactive about crime prevention, three quarters (72%) have introduced new measures to protect the school and deter criminals during the past 12 months. The top investments are CCTV (49%), alarms (27%), security fencing (21%) and security lighting (19%).

While the majority of schools have invested in security measures, two in five teachers believe their school would benefit from more crime and security risk guidance from their insurer or insurance broker (41%).

Faith Kitchen, customer segment director at Ecclesiastical Insurance, said: “Amidst the cost of living crisis, schools can be an attractive target for criminals. For schools, crime experienced within school property can be a stressful event for teachers, as it is they who are left to deal with the implications of teaching without laptops or equipment, while leadership has to tackle the expenses incurred. There are a number of measures schools can take to better secure school property and assets, which would ideally be a combination of both physical and electronic protection. Fencing around the perimeter can often offer a good first line of defence against unwanted visitors, while CCTV can act as a visual deterrent for those not wanting to be caught on camera.”