June 04, 2025 | Incident and Crime Statistics , Sexual Offences
Request Number: FOI/14661
Category: Incident and Crime Statistics - Sexual Offences
Subject: Sexual Offences In Schools
Request
Please would you let me know in writing if you hold information of the following description, relating to sexual offences recorded in schools:
For the following years: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 (until as recently as possible):
The total number of reports received by the constabulary for the crimes listed below that have taken place in schools in the area covered by the force:
| Home Office Codes: | |
| 01713 | Assault on a male by penetration. |
| 01714 | Assault of a male child under 13 by penetration. |
| 01715 | Sexual Assault on a male. |
| 01716 | Sexual Assault on a male child under 13. |
| 01907 | Rape of a female aged under 16. |
| 01908 | Rape of a female aged 16 or over. |
| 01909 | Rape of a male aged under 16. |
| 01911 | Attempted rape of a female aged under 16 |
| 01912 | Attempted rape of a female aged 16 or over. |
| 01913 | Attempted rape of a male aged under 16. |
| 01916 | Rape of a female child under 13 by a male. |
| 01917 | Rape of a male child under 13 by a male. |
| 01918 | Attempted rape of a female child aged under 13 by a male |
| 01919 | Attempted rape of a male child aged under 13 by a male |
| 01927 | Rape of a female aged under 16. Multiple Undefined Offenders |
| 02003 | Assault on a female by penetration. |
| 02004 | Assault of a female child under 13 by penetration. |
| 02005 | Sexual assault on a female. |
| 02006 | Sexual assault on a female child under 13. |
| 02117 | Causing a child under 13 to watch a sexual act - offender under 18 |
| 02122 | Sexual activity with a female child aged under 13 - offender aged under 18 - no penetration |
| 02123 | Sexual activity with a male child aged under 13 - offender aged under 18 - no penetration |
| 02124 | Causing or inciting a female child aged under 13 to engage in sexual activity - offender aged under 18 - no penetration |
| 02125 | Causing or inciting a male child aged under 13 to engage in sexual activity - offender aged under 18 - no penetration |
| 02405 | Causing or encouraging prostitution/sexual intercourse/indecent assault with girl under 16 |
| 07100 | Abuse of children through prostitution and pornography (child prostitution & pornography) |
| 07101 | Arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence |
| 07102 | Paying for sex with a female child under 13 - penetration |
| 07103 | Paying for sex with a male child under 13 - penetration |
| 07104 | Paying for sex with a female child under 16 - no penetration |
| 07105 | Paying for sex with a male child under 16 - no penetration |
| 07106 | Paying for sex with a female child aged 16 to 17 |
| 07107 | Paying for sex with a male child aged 16 or 17 |
| 07108 | Causing or inciting child prostitution or pornography - child aged 13 to 17 |
| 07109 | Controlling a child prostitute or a child involved in pornography - child aged 13 to 17 |
| 07110 | Arranging or facilitating child prostitution or pornography - child aged 13 to 17 |
| 07111 | Causing or inciting child prostitution or pornography - child under 13 |
| 07112 | Controlling a child prostitute or a child involved in pornography - child under 13 |
| 07113 | Arranging or facilitating child prostitution or pornography - child under 13 |
| 07114 | Paying for sex with a female child aged under 16 - penetration |
| 07115 | Paying for sex with a male child aged under 16 - penetration |
| 07117 | Engage in sexual communication with a child (Serious Crime Act 2015) |
| 08602 | Taking, permitting to be taken or making, distributing or publishing indecent photographs or pseudo photographs of children |
| 08610 | Possess an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child |
| 08615 | Possess prohibited images of children |
E.g.
"There were a total of X reports of crime 07117 made to the force in 2020, Y in 2021, etc.”
I provide a link to the response by the Metropolitan Police to a similar request:
https://www.met.police.uk/foi-ai/metropolitan-police/disclosure-2023/november-2023/sexual-offences-recorded-schools-january2017-september2023/
Answer
The offences provided in this request are Home office codes which do not apply/are not used in Northern Ireland.
As a refinement to the request, the recorded sexual offences provided in the table below cover the range of classifications specified in the footnote to the table, with obscene publications also provided.
The ‘Education – school/college’ location subtype indicates that an offence occurred at or within the vicinity of school premises. Therefore, the offence may have occurred outside of school premises. Additionally, the offences may have occurred on school premises outside of school hours and those involved in the offence may not have any connection to the school. To provide the offences which have ‘taken place’ in a school would require an examination of each individual record on NCIHE and would result in an over cost response.
As police recorded figures are based on the date the crime is reported to the police, not all offences are reported when they occurred and this is particularly prevalent in sexual offences. The focus on cases of historical sexual abuse (for example through the media, the Inquiry into Historical Institutional Abuse in Northern Ireland Between 1922 and 1995 and other inquiries) may have an
impact on the number of non-recent sexual offences reported. In each of the years from 2020 to 2024 at least forty per cent of all sexual offences that are included in the table below occurred more than 12 months before the offence was reported to police.
Please Note: This is management information based on data extracted from a live system and may be subject to change. It is dependent on the information having been input into the system in such a way as to identify those records that are relevant.
| Recorded sexual offences1 and obscene publications where the location is Education - school or college1 in Northern Ireland ( 1 January 2020 - 31 March 2025) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offence | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 1 Jan - 31 Mar 2025 |
| Sexual Offences1 | 72 | 101 | 192 | 162 | 162 | 29 |
| 86 Obscene publications, etc | 40 | 31 | 63 | 104 | 112 | 21 |
1The sexual offences provided in the above table include: 17A Sexual assault on a male aged 13 and over 17B Sexual assault on a male child under 13 19C-19K Rape 20A Sexual assault on a female aged 13 and over 20B Sexual assault on a female child under 13 21 Sexual activity involving a child under 13 88A Sexual Grooming | ||||||