Pupils found with weapons in Cardiff schools, 2026

Key points

• Nearly two‑thirds of weapon‑related searches at Cardiff schools uncovered knives or other weapons on pupils between September 2025 and March 2026.
• A Freedom of Information (FoI) request carried out for BBC‑produced Newyddion S4C revealed that 12 out of 19 weapon searches over that period found weapons on students.
• Cardiff Council said safeguarding staff and pupils on educational sites remained a “priority” and that the 19 searches were carried out on a discretionary, suspicion‑based basis, not random mass sweeps.
• The council also confirmed that no permanent expulsions followed from those 19 searches, and that it does not hold comparable data from previous years.
• The NASUWT teachers’ union described the figures as “frightening” and said even one weapon found in a school is “one too many”.
• Cardiff introduced new “Weapons in Schools and Educational Settings Guidance” in 2025, authorising the use of handheld scanners to check pupils if there is reasonable suspicion they may be carrying a blade or other weapon.
• Medical student and StreetDoctors volunteer Millie‑Mae Adams called the situation an “emergency” and said many young people wrongly believe carrying a weapon protects them.

Cardiff (Cardiff Daily) May 2, 2026 –Cardiff schools carried out 19 weapon‑related searches between September 2025 and March 2026, and in 12 of those cases knives or other weapons were allegedly found on pupils, according to figures obtained under a Freedom of Information (FoI) request shared with BBC‑produced Newyddion S4C.

As reported by BBC News journalists, the data revealed that weapons were recovered in nearly two‑thirds of all such searches over that six‑month stretch, prompting concern from teaching unions and youth‑safety charities. The FoI information also showed that seven of the 19 searches did not detect any weapons.

Cardiff Council told BBC News that the 19 searches were conducted only when there was reasonable suspicion that an individual pupil might be carrying a weapon, and were carried out in line with the authority’s

“Weapons in Schools and Educational Settings Guidance”,

which came into force in the autumn of 2025. A council spokesperson stated that safeguarding staff and pupils on educational sites was “a priority” and that any searches were meant to be “discreet and proportionate”, with clear explanations given to pupils and parents notified afterwards.

Why are teaching unions alarmed by the figures?

The NASUWT teachers’ union has described the data as “frightening”, warning that the numbers point to a worrying rise in the presence of weapons on school sites.

Sion Amlyn, policy and case officer for NASUWT South and West Wales, was quoted by BBC News as saying that

“even if just one weapon is discovered, it is one too many, so the rising trend is alarming”,

adding that multiple incidents raised serious questions about whether schools remained safe havens for staff and pupils. NASUWT also told BBC News that the figures reinforced calls for more resources and preventative interventions to tackle youth violence outside the school gates as well as inside them.

What did Cardiff Council say about expulsions and data trends?

In response to the FoI‑driven findings, Cardiff Council confirmed to BBC News that no permanent exclusions resulted from the 19 searches and the 12 weapons detections recorded between September 2025 and March 2026. The authority added that the numbers must be understood in the context of relatively targeted, suspicion‑based checks rather than blanket, random screening of all pupils.

The council also told BBC News that it did not hold comparable historical data going back more than a year, making it difficult to declare a clear upward or downward trend in detections over the longer term. Explaining the new guidance framework, the council said the use of handheld scanners and the codified search procedures were introduced after headteachers requested clearer protocols amid wider concerns about knife‑related incidents in educational settings.

What is the new “Weapons in Schools Guidance”?

In September 2025, Cardiff Council issued new

“Weapons in Schools and Educational Settings Guidance”

for all primary, secondary and special schools in the local authority area, which – as reported by the Pembrokeshire Herald and BBC News – was described as the first guidance of its kind in Wales.

Documents seen by the Pembrokeshire Herald and quoted by BBC News indicated that the rules allow staff to use handheld scanners to search pupils when there is reasonable suspicion they may be carrying a weapon, and set out steps to be followed if a blade or other prohibited item is discovered.

Cardiff Council told BBC News that the guidance was developed in response to requests from headteachers for updated support on how to manage weapons threats while maintaining pupils’ rights and minimising disruption.

How are youth‑safety groups interpreting the numbers?

Millie‑Mae Adams, a medical student who volunteers with the StreetDoctors charity, told BBC News that the level of weapons found in Cardiff school searches was “a big problem” and should be treated as an “emergency”.

She said that, while the figures might surprise members of the public, they did not come as a shock to those who regularly speak with young people close to affected communities.

“I know young people have this idea that they’re protecting themselves by carrying it [a weapon] but that isn’t true,”

Adams was quoted as saying, underlining that the majority of young people who carry weapons end up getting injured or arrested.

What is the background to this development?

This episode in Cardiff must be set against a broader context of youth‑violence and knife‑crime concerns across Wales and the wider UK in recent years. In 2025, police publicly treated planned weapons threats to Cardiff schools as serious enough to justify multi‑day closures and intensive searches at some secondary schools, reinforcing a sense among local authorities that the threat of blades entering school sites was not hypothetical.

At the same time, councils and teaching unions have repeatedly called for a combination of tougher enforcement, better mental‑health support, and more youth‑outreach programmes to reduce the number of young people who feel they need to carry weapons.

The rollout of the Cardiff “Weapons in Schools” guidance and handheld scanners can be seen as a practical response to that pressure, providing school staff with a standardised, legally grounded framework for dealing with suspected blade‑carrying on a case‑by‑case basis.

How might this development affect pupils, parents and schools in Cardiff?

For pupils and parents in Cardiff, the release of these figures is likely to sharpen already‑high awareness of knife‑carrying and school‑site safety. If suspicion‑based searches become more visible or frequent, some families may welcome the extra protection, while others may worry about the impact on pupils’ privacy, dignity, and the school atmosphere, especially if younger children are involved.

For headteachers and school staff, the new guidance and the published data may push schools to double‑down on preventative measures such as conflict‑resolution programmes, close collaboration with local police, and routine staff training on how to spot early warning signs of weapon‑carrying. Teaching unions may also press Cardiff Council and the Welsh Government for more resources and clearer metrics so that schools can track whether the guidance and scanner use actually reduce incidents over time, rather than merely increase the number of recorded detections.

For wider audiences such as local policymakers, charities and youth‑services providers, the Cardiff figures are likely to be cited as evidence that the weapons‑carrying problem reaches into everyday school environments, not just onto city streets. This could increase pressure for coordinated, cross‑sector strategies that combine policing, education, health and social services to address the underlying drivers – such as fear of violence, peer pressure and lack of safe alternatives – that lead some young people to feel they must carry weapons to school.