New anti-bullying trial reduces bullying incidents by 13% in primary schools

The largest trial of its kind in the UK, managed by the Centre for Trials Research which is funded by Health and Care Research Wales, has shown that a low-cost, structured anti-bullying programme can significantly reduce bullying in primary schools.

The trial tested the Finnish-based KiVa programme in over 100 primary schools across England and Wales, involving more than 11,000 students. The results showed a 13% reduction in bullying incidents, with the programme proving effective across a wide range of school types, from small rural schools to large urban ones.

Led by Bangor University and in collaboration with the Universities of Exeter, Oxford, Warwick and Birmingham, the programme focuses on the behaviour of all children and emphasises the important role that bystanders can play. 

Professor Judy Hutchings, from the Centre for Evidence Based Early Intervention at Bangor University, said: “Bullying in childhood is one of the biggest risk factors for later mental health problems in childhood, adolescence and beyond.

“While all schools are required to have a bullying policy, it’s rarely evidence-based. The KiVa ‘whole-school’ approach has had significant effects on bullying in other countries because it focuses on everyone’s behaviour and removes the social rewards usually gained by the perpetrators.”

The KiVa programme teaches children how to recognise and respond to bullying, while fostering empathy towards victims. Schools that adopted KiVa also reported improvements in peer relationships and overall student empathy.

Lucy Bowes, Professor of Psychopathology at the University of Oxford, said: “The Finnish data show year-on-year improvements over seven years for schools that continue with the programme. Addressing bullying in schools is a major public health concern and evaluating anti-bullying programmes used in our schools is vital.”

Read more about the trial.