Overview
- Home Office data show 8,778 referrals to Prevent in 2024/25, up 27% on the year and the highest total since records began in 2015.
- The education sector made 36% of referrals (3,129) while police accounted for 30% (2,631) after a 37% rise, with local authority referrals up 54% to 895 as community and friends-and-family referrals fell.
- Of cases where a concern was logged, 56% (4,917 of 8,769) were recorded as having no clear ideology, while identified cases most commonly cited extreme right-wing concerns at 21% (1,798) compared with 10% (870) for Islamist extremism.
- Children featured heavily in the caseload, with 11–15-year-olds making up 36% (3,192), 16–17-year-olds 13% (1,178), and 345 referrals for children aged 10 or under; just over a third recorded a mental health or neurodiversity condition, including Autism Spectrum Disorder in 14% (1,226).
- Prevent officials reported increased referrals for violent fixation after the Southport murders, the January–March 2025 total reached a record 3,287, and the attacker had been referred to Prevent three times without meeting the threshold for further intervention.