Antisemitic incidents at universities across Britain have risen sharply since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel in October 2023, according to a new report from the Community Security Trust
(CST), a charity that provides security support and advice to the UK’s Jewish community.
The organisation recorded 178 antisemitic incidents connected to universities during the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years. The number increased by 14% in 2025/26 alone, reaching 95 cases.
That figure is substantially higher than the 53 incidents recorded in 2022/23, the final academic year before the October 7, 2023 attacks and the subsequent war in Gaza. The latest total represents an increase of almost 80% compared with that pre-war period.
Most of the cases documented by the CST did not involve physical violence. They included verbal abuse, antisemitic remarks, threatening or hostile behaviour, and graffiti targeting Jewish students, university employees or Jewish societies and organisations on campus.
However, the report also recorded more serious incidents. Six physical assaults were reported across the two academic years, while two cases in 2024/25 were classified by the CST as involving extreme violence.
University staff were also implicated in some of the reported incidents. According to the charity, 16 cases over the two-year period involved university employees as alleged perpetrators.
The findings come amid heightened tensions on British university campuses following the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war. Jewish students and staff have reported concerns about hostility connected to the conflict, while universities have faced pressure to balance freedom of expression and political protest with their responsibilities to protect students from harassment and discrimination.
Education Secretary Lucy Powell said Jewish students should not have to choose between openly expressing their identity and feeling secure at university.
“No student should have to choose between expressing their identity and feeling safe on campus,” Powell said, adding that this remained a reality for too many Jewish students.
The CST said the figures highlighted the continuing challenges faced by Jewish communities in higher education and the need for universities to respond effectively to antisemitic behaviour when it occurs. Photo by Quinn Dombrowski from Berkeley, USA, Wikimedia commons.
