Education practice and policy review

What is the issue?

Significant numbers of children and young people in England and Wales have experienced violence. A recent, large-scale survey conducted by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) — an organisation dedicated to preventing young people from becoming involved in violence — found that 47% of 13- to 17-year olds reported being either a victim or a witness of violence, while 15% reported committing violence over the last 12 months (YEF 2023).

In this context, YEF worked with schools, colleges, alternative provision (AP) settings, education leaders, children and teachers to develop practice guidance to help education settings keep children safe. Their report, "Education, Children and Violence: Guidance for school, college and alternative provision leaders to help prevent children’s involvement in violence" (YEF 2024) sets out five key recommendations:

1. Keep children in education
2. Provide children with trusted adults
3. Develop children's social and emotional skills
4. Target efforts at the places and times where violence occurs
5. Cautiously consider unproven strategies and avoid harmful approaches.

YEF recognises, however, that schools, colleges and AP settings cannot single-handedly reduce violence. The policy and system context in which they operate shapes and limits their ability to deliver 'what works'.

How are we helping?

This study has therefore been commissioned by YEF to identify:

• key aspects of the policy and system context that shape what practice education settings are able to deliver;
• what current practice looks like, including examples of practice in line with their recommendations;
• the barriers and challenges preventing more education settings from delivering practice in line with their recommendations; and
• what needs to change at the policy and system level to enable more education settings to deliver good practice that keeps children safe.

Employing an intersectional equity lens, our team is conducting:

• a desk review of existing policy, guidance and literature
• interviews with 50 education policy and system stakeholders, including senior leaders and practitioners in schools and alternative provision settings
• a Delphi-style consultation to test, refine and validate findings and recommendations.

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