At their annual Cymru Conference this Saturday, NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union will call for a national statutory framework for reporting, recording, and responding to violence against school staff in Wales.
Each local authority in Wales records and responds to incidences of violence in schools differently. Teachers believe that this fragmented system is creating unnecessary risks for staff and pupils, and that lack of consistent, accurate data gathering masks the extent and impact of pupil behaviour issues on teachers and other pupils.
The call comes as new data from NASUWT suggests teachers in Wales are the most likely group in the UK to have seriously considered leaving teaching in the last year. In a 2026 survey of over 10,000 teachers, 74.2% of teachers in Wales had considered leaving the teaching profession, compared to 68.3% in England, 67.7% in Northern Ireland, 65.8% in the Channel Islands and 63.3% in Scotland.
Matt Wrack, General Secretary of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union, said:
“Teachers, like all employees, are entitled to work in a safe environment. But teachers in Wales continue to feel they are putting their physical and mental wellbeing at risk when they walk into school every morning, and they often feel powerless to deal with dangerous pupil behaviour.
“The stress, anxiety and sometimes physical injury teachers endure due to abuse from pupils is forcing them to consider leaving the profession on a regular basis. Employers should be looking for ways to protect teachers and make them feel valued; instead, it seems some are looking for ways to ignore the problem.
“Though pupils who exhibit dangerous behaviour are in the minority, they can cause real harm to themselves and others, and they need urgent help. Any national strategy to address violence in schools must also tackle the root causes of pupil behaviour issues: poverty, inequality, a severe lack of mental health and support services for young people, and the virulent spread of misinformation across social media and online platforms.”
Neil Butler, National Official for Wales, said:
“Last year, NASUWT Cymru asked local authorities across Wales for the data they hold on violence in schools. We were shocked to discover that not all record consistent information over the types of abuses that teachers endure, or the number of incidents that occur in schools.
“Local authorities are responsible for keeping staff and pupils safe. They cannot do this effectively without accurate, consistent gathering of data, or a plan for responding to the findings. As pupils can move across counties, it is essential that any new framework operates on a national level to ensure that schools can access pupil data as soon as it is needed.
“Teachers already face problems when reporting incidents in schools; they are overworked, stressed, and can encounter challenges from leaders and parents as to how pupil behaviour should be recorded. A national framework would not only improve safety in schools – it would make teachers feel more visible, and validate their concerns. The government must act now in response to what is, in our view, a public health and safety crisis.”
