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Over 700 children as young as 10 have been caught with weapons - including knives and firearms - at London schools in the past five years.
Ninety-seven girls were among 718 suspects, according to new Metropolitan Police figures obtained by the Standard.
It comes as teachers and a charity warn pupils are being put at an increased risk of violence and gang exploitation by the removal of specialist police officers from schools in the capital as Scotland Yard tries to balance a £260 million budget shortfall.
However, the Met say the move will allow larger local policing teams to protect and educate children, while supporting schools and focusing on incidents happening in communities on journeys to and from the classroom.
Patrick Green, chief executive of the Ben Kinsella Trust, called for them to be reinstated saying they were sacrificed “without consultation or regard” for young people who “really valued” their presence.
The anti-knife crime charity was founded by former EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella after her 16-year-old brother Ben was stabbed to death in Islington on June 29, 2008.
Its recent survey found two-thirds of youngsters felt anxious about knife crime in their area and one in four believed carrying a blade makes them safer.
Mr Green said: “I fear this is one of those examples, because of a lack of funding, frontline and important services around prevention are being sacrificed.
“Two months before Ben was murdered, he wrote to the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown that the government was not doing enough to keep young people safe. Seventeen years later, this feels like Ben’s letter all over again.
“Young people are possibly being put at risk in order to save money and I think Ben’s words are as powerful then as they are now.”
The Metropolitan Police logged 682 possession of weapon offences where the location was in and around nursery or school between January 2020 and February this year.
Crimes included attempted murder, actual and grievous bodily harm, robbery and threats to kill.
Of suspects where ethnicity was recorded, 222 were black, 190 white and 131 Asian, the force said in data released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Whilst the number of weapon possession offences in schools reduced from 179 in 2020 to 176 in 2021, 160 in 2022, 101 in 2023, 64 in 2024 and just two since January 2025, the Met said it would be inaccurate to say this was down to the redistribution of officers. A spokeswoman adds it is positive to see a reduction in knives seized in schools.
Retired Met Superintendent Leroy Logan said safer schools officers had been crucial in spotting gang grooming and misogyny towards women and girls.
Mr Logan added: “I know the importance of them. If they are doing the job right, they can pick up on things at a much earlier stage.
“A lot of stabbings happen after school in the broad light of day. It’s all short-termism.”
Of 1,700 Met staff being axed amid “substantial tough choices”, last month 371 safer schools officers were transferred into neighbourhood policing teams.
The force says there will be more resources to look into hotspot knife crime areas outside of schools and in communities. Patrols and officer visibility are being increased in a bid to reduce crime.
Sam Jones, chair of The Waltham Forest Secondary Heads group, was among 15 headteachers who wrote to the force warning that without support “vulnerable students may become prey to exploitation and, in turn, perpetrators of crime”.
He described it as a “very misguided” plan, adding: “We think that it will increase violence, potentially increase bullying and weapons-related incidents.
“I think this is a huge backward step.”
Commander Glen Pavelin, Frontline Policing, said: “Officers continue to work hard across London to reduce knife crime and keep young people safe, both in and out of schools, and it’s positive to see this is having an impact on the number of knives in schools.
“Alongside working with partners and schools on educating young people on the consequences of carrying weapons, we’ve identified hotspot areas of increased knife crime activity in and around schools, increasing patrols and officer visibility in those areas, and actively targeting individuals linked to knife crime and monitoring online activity to interfere with the supply of knives to youths.
“From May 2025, we’ve moved schools officers to local policing teams where they will retain strong relationships with schools and local partners ensuring any incidents involving knives can be dealt with quickly.
“This is increasing the resilience of Neighbourhood Policing Teams and sharing youth-specialist expertise across a broader pool of officers, creating a more adaptable and responsive service.”
