Campus antisemitism incidents climb for second year, CST report finds

Antisemitic incidents affecting students and staff at UK universities rose during the latest academic year, according to figures published on Wednesday by the Community Security Trust, a charity that tracks antisemitism on campus.

The CST logged 95 "university-related" incidents in the 2025-26 academic year, compared with 83 in 2024-25. The year-on-year increase ends a single-year decline that had followed a sharp surge in antisemitic activity recorded immediately after the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the start of the war in Gaza.

The trust cautioned that while the totals remain well below the 272 incidents recorded in 2023-24 — the highest figure since it began compiling the data — the level is still "substantially higher" than before October 2023. In 2022-23, the final full academic year preceding the attack, the charity recorded 53 incidents. On that measure, the latest academic year represents an increase of roughly four-fifths.

Universities UK, the organisation representing more than 140 institutions, said the findings showed members must do more to "protect Jewish students and staff", describing the picture as a "serious concern". Vivienne Stern, its chief executive, said universities also needed to make clear to students and staff where the expression of a strongly held opinion crosses the line into antisemitism and harassment. She acknowledged that UUK has worked alongside bodies including the CST to produce guidance for institutions, but said there was "more to do, particularly in building confidence in the effectiveness of disciplinary processes".

Lucy Powell, education secretary for England, said the report's contents were "deeply troubling". She said the government expects universities to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism and added that training is being provided to help university staff identify and respond to incidents quickly.

The scale of the increase is significant because the CST is a leading source of data on antisemitic incidents at British universities, and its annual counts have become a reference point for debate among student groups, university leaders and policymakers. The trust's figures are compiled from reports made to it, which experts acknowledge can only reflect what is reported to the charity rather than everything that occurs.

Defining what counts can also affect the totals. The CST treats 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 covers conduct both on campus and online, a distinction that has grown in significance as disputes over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have migrated into seminar rooms, social media groups and student union pages.

Abusive behaviour — including verbal abuse, in-person and online comments, and antisemitic graffiti — was the most frequently recorded category of incident across the two academic years covered by the report, which examines 2024-25 and 2025-26 in detail.

The report also documented a more serious category of offending. For the first time, the charity recorded two occurrences of extreme violence during 2024-25. Across both years there were six reported assaults, eight incidents of damage or desecration aimed at Jewish property — five of which took place in student accommodation — and ten separate threats.

Student halls have therefore emerged as a particular point of concern, with most recorded property attacks occurring in that setting. Campaigners say this pattern has made security and accommodation policies at individual institutions a focus of concern.

A significant share of the reported incidents involved reference to contemporary Middle East events. Around two-thirds featured antisemitic language or targeting alongside references to Israel, Gaza, Hamas, the 7 October attack and the conflicts that followed.

The CST stressed the distinction it draws in its report, noting that "criticism of Israel and Zionism is not inherently antisemitic", but adding that its data "continue to demonstrate that anti-Zionist language is frequently deployed in conjunction with hostility towards Jews and Jewish organisations". The charity's position is that political advocacy, however strongly expressed, becomes antisemitic when it targets people rather than policies.

Mark Gardner, the CST's chief executive, said Jews were "still facing a very serious campus antisemitism problem". He singled out staff conduct as a particular worry, saying 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".

Raphi Leon, president of the Union of Jewish Students, said the report should be "a shot in the arm to boost action to support Jewish students and tackle antisemitism", calling for the recommendations to be translated into faster institutional responses.

The backdrop to the report is the continuing conflict in Gaza, which began with the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Israel launched a large-scale military offensive in response, which the Hamas-run health ministry says has killed around 74,000 people.

The issue is likely to remain politically contested on campuses, where student societies organise debates and solidarity campaigns connected to the war. Campaigners continue to press for stronger enforcement of disciplinary procedures, while universities face competing demands from students holding sharply different views. What is clear from the CST's latest data is that the 2023-24 peak was not a high-water mark, and that the decline recorded the following year has reversed.