Violence and weapons in Portuguese schools reach five-year high
Physical assaults and weapons in Portuguese schools have hit their highest levels in five years, according to a report from the Polícia de Segurança Pública's Safe School Programme released this week. The data covers the 2025/26 academic year and reveals 1,426 bodily harm offences, a 10.5% increase from the previous year, while weapons found on school grounds rose to 60 seized items, up 11.1%.
The PSP registered 4,075 total incidents during the last school year, a 4.6% rise from 2024/25. Of these, 2,898 were criminal in nature and 1,177 were non-criminal matters such as disrupting school activities.
What the figures show
Bodily harm offences remain the most common crime in Portuguese schools, accounting for the majority of criminal incidents. Insults and threats totalled 920 cases, up 3.1%.
Weapons seizures included three firearms, 50 bladed weapons and seven other weapons — one more firearm and seven more bladed weapons than the previous academic year.
Sexual offences showed a rising trend from 2023/24, with 103 crimes registered, an increase of 18.4%. Drug trafficking detections, while lower in absolute numbers, surged 69% to 22 crimes identified.
Where incidents occur
The majority of crimes, 68.7%, took place inside school grounds, predominantly bodily harm, insults, threats and theft. Robbery and drug trafficking occurred more frequently outside school premises.
Bullying and cyberbullying cases also rose after several years of decline. Authorities recorded 155 bullying situations, up 25 from the previous year, and 25 cyberbullying cases, an increase of one.
Some crimes decreasing
Robbery reached its lowest level in five years with 67 cases, continuing a downward trend since 2022/23. Theft fell to 324 incidents, the lowest since 2023/24.
Prevention efforts
The Safe School Programme teams, comprising 337 dedicated officers, covered 3,109 educational establishments serving more than 919,000 students. Officers conducted 11,783 awareness-raising actions involving over 652,000 participants, and carried out 92,945 individual prevention contacts, a 12.2% increase.
Topics addressed include bullying and cyberbullying, road safety, addictive behaviours, safe technology use, domestic and dating violence, and human rights.
The report was issued jointly by the Ministry of Internal Administration and the Ministry of Education.
For families with children in Portuguese schools, the figures represent a tangible shift in schoolyard realities — more fights, more weapons, more sexual offences — even as some property crimes decline. The PSP notes that criminal incidents have remained above the decade average since 2023/24.
