Whether you work in a school, college, alternative provision or education policy, our job is to make it easy to know what works to prevent children’s involvement in violence and help you make it happen.
At the Youth Endowment Fund, we aim to prevent children from being drawn into violence. Any credible plan to reduce violence has to recognise that children rely on seven essential sectors to be safe, one of which is education. In each sector we are working with delivery organisations and system leaders to better understand and deliver on the changes most likely to reduce violence.
There is so much we can all do to keep children safe. Our job is to make it easy to know what works and to help you to make it happen, whether you work in a school, college or Alternative Provision setting or in education policy or government.
The YEF Toolkit brings together the best available research on approaches commonly used in education settings to reduce children’s involvement in violence.
It supports school leaders and practitioners to assess what works in keeping children safe and engaged, compare interventions (including school exclusion guidance), and make informed decisions grounded in evidence, rather than assumptions.
Explore more approaches on YEF’s Toolkit summarising the best available research evidence on preventing children and young people’s involvement in violence.
Evidence from the YEF Toolkit shows that social skills training is one of the most effective approaches for reducing violence among children and young people within both education and health sectors. These programmes focus on helping young people develop their communication skills, emotional regulation and empathy, and manage aggressive or challenging behaviour.
In schools, colleges and alternative provision settings, social skills training can help pupils manage their emotions and build healthier relationships with other young people and adults. The evidence indicates that it has a strong positive effect on reducing violence, and on average, these programmes are associated with a 32% reduction in the number of children involved in crime.
We are confident this is an effective approach because the evidence is drawn from a large number of studies, many of which use robust evaluation methods.
What should schools, colleges and alternative provision providers do to prevent violence?
We’ve published our Education Practice Guidance, which provides school, college, and alternative provision leaders across England and Wales with five evidence-based recommendations on how they can prevent children’s involvement in violence.
How should the education system change to better prevent violence?
We have published a report that provides education policy makers in England and Wales with eight recommendations on what they can do to prevent children’s involvement in violence. These recommendations draw from the best available international evidence, three reviews of policy and practice, and the insights and expertise of our strategic advisory group for education.
EPIC helps education leaders reflect on their current approach to preventing violence and improve it using the best available evidence.
You are invited to join our events specifically for the education sector, to see how we can collectively prevent children’s involvement in violence.
If you’re passionate about improving opportunities and outcomes for young people, and would like to learn more about what works to prevent children’s involvement in violence, then sign-up below to get the latest updates and opportunities.
The YEF Toolkit brings together the best available evidence on what works to prevent violence. It helps schools, colleges and alternative provision providers understand which approaches are most effective and which show limited or even harmful impact. Research shows that interventions have very different success rates, and we want to help education settings choose the best route based on evidence rather than assumption or popularity.
Confidence varies by approach. For some interventions, such as social skills training, the evidence is strong and drawn from multiple high-quality studies. For others, such as trauma-specific therapies, the evidence is moderate or mixed. This is clearly reflected in the Toolkit.
We are funding a wide range of projects exploring key questions related to topics including social skills, absence, school exclusion, behaviour and police in schools. Projects include new evaluations, secondary data analysis projects and systems research.
View all of YEF’s Funding and Evaluation projects.