Campus antisemitism incidents rise for a second year, charity finds

Antisemitic incidents affecting students and staff at UK universities increased during the latest academic year, according to a charity that tracks such incidents, signalling that a problem which peaked two years ago has failed to fade.

The Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that monitors antisemitism in Britain, said it had logged 95 "university-related" incidents in the 2025-26 academic year, up from 83 in 2024-25. The report covers the past two academic years and was released as university leaders, politicians and student representatives struggled to agree on how campuses should respond to the Israel-Gaza war and its reverberations inside lecture halls, halls of residence and online student communities.

The CST classifies an incident as university-related when it involves a student, member of staff or academic at a UK university acting in an academic or student capacity. That definition deliberately captures conduct both on campus and online, reflecting how disputes that begin in seminars, WhatsApp groups and social media pages can spill into physical spaces.

The figures trace a volatile three-year arc. In 2022-23 — the final academic year before the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023 — the charity recorded 53 incidents. That number surged to 272 in 2023-24, the year that followed the outbreak of the war in Gaza. Incidents then fell sharply in 2024-25 before edging upwards again in 2025-26, a pattern the charity acknowledges while stressing that current levels remain "substantially higher" than those recorded before the conflict began.

The trigger for that surge was the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and left 251 others taken hostage. Israel subsequently launched a mass military offensive on Gaza, which the Hamas-run health ministry says has killed around 74,000 people. Since then, the CST says, roughly two-thirds of reported university incidents have involved antisemitic language or targeting appearing alongside references to Israel, Gaza, Hamas, the 7 October attack and subsequent conflicts across the Middle East.

Abusive behaviour was the most common category of incident recorded across the two years examined, encompassing verbal abuse, remarks made face to face or posted online, and antisemitic graffiti appearing on university property.

The charity's report also highlighted a more severe category of incident. For the first time in the data it publishes, it recorded two occurrences of extreme violence, both logged in 2024-25. Across the two academic years as a whole, the charity documented six reported assaults, eight incidents of damage or desecration aimed at Jewish property — five of which occurred in student accommodation — and ten threats.

The CST was careful to distinguish political expression from antisemitism. It said: "While criticism of Israel and Zionism is not inherently antisemitic, the data in this report continue to demonstrate that anti-Zionist language is frequently deployed in conjunction with hostility towards Jews and Jewish organisations."

Mark Gardner, the charity's chief executive, said "Jews are still facing a very serious campus antisemitism problem", adding that it was "particularly troubling that a growing proportion of the anti-Jewish actions involve university staff". Universities, he argued, have "a duty to ensure that Jewish students and staff can study, work and participate on campus the same as anyone else" — a point that widens the issue beyond a clash between students and shifts attention to the conduct of employees, including academics whose views may shape classroom discussion.

Industry body Universities UK, which represents more than 140 institutions, echoed that concern. Its chief executive, Vivienne Stern, said the rise in antisemitic incidents in the UK, including on campuses, is a serious concern, and that universities have a responsibility to protect Jewish students and staff from abuse while making clear "where the expression of a strongly held view becomes antisemitism and harassment".

Stern said UUK has worked with the CST and other organisations on guidance for universities, but conceded there was "more to do, particularly in building confidence in the effectiveness of disciplinary processes". That admission points to a recurring criticism in the debate: that policies exist on paper, but students and staff doubt complaints will produce timely or credible outcomes.

Lucy Powell, education secretary for England, described the findings as "deeply troubling". She said the government expects universities to take a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism and is providing training to help university staff identify and respond to incidents swiftly. Her comments suggest pressure for a more visible enforcement regime at a time when reported incidents are rising again despite having fallen from their 2023-24 peak.

Raphi Leon, president of the Union of Jewish Students, said the report "must be a shot in the arm to boost action to support Jewish students and tackle antisemitism", arguing that the year-on-year increase should be treated as a warning rather than a statistical blip.

Taken together, the charity's findings present universities with a challenge that is difficult to resolve through statements of principle alone. The numbers show a fall from an exceptional peak, but also a stubborn persistence well above pre-war levels, with online targeting, property damage, threats and assaults recorded alongside the verbal abuse that makes up the bulk of cases. Whether the renewed increase marks the beginning of a sharper trend or a temporary fluctuation will depend on how institutions respond — through the training the government has promised, the disciplinary processes UUK admits need strengthening, and the clarity that sector leaders say students and staff require about where legitimate political expression ends and harassment begins.