Gaza Genocide29 September, 20262 min read
Community Security Trust Records 95 University-Related Antisemitic Incidents In 2025-26 Academic Year
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CST recorded 95 university-related antisemitic incidents in 2025-26. Incidents rose 14% in 2025-26 compared with the prior year.
Campus incidents rise
The Community Security Trust recorded 95 "university-related" antisemitic incidents in the 2025-26 academic year, up from 83 in the year before, according to its report on antisemitism at UK universities. The CST said the number had fallen from its peak in the year after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023 and the war in Gaza began, but it remained "substantially higher" than before that point.
The BBC said the CST defined an antisemitic incident as "university-related" when it concerns a student, member of staff or academic at a UK university "in their academic or student capacity". The BBC reported that around two-thirds of incidents involved antisemitic language or targeting alongside references to Israel, Gaza, Hamas, the 7 October attack, and the subsequent conflicts in the Middle East.
Government and universities
Education secretary in England Lucy Powell said the CST findings were "deeply troubling," and she said the government expected universities to take a "zero-tolerance" approach to antisemitism. Powell said the government was providing training to help university staff identify and respond to incidents swiftly, and she linked the issue to whether Jewish students felt safe on campus.
Universities UK chief executive Vivienne Stern said universities had a responsibility to protect Jewish students and staff from abuse, and she said students and staff needed to understand where a strongly held view became antisemitism and harassment. Mark Gardner, CST chief executive, said "Jews are still facing a very serious campus antisemitism problem" and he said it was "particularly troubling" that a growing proportion of anti-Jewish actions involved university staff.
What the report covers
The CST report recorded 178 university-related antisemitic incidents across the two academic years, with 83 in 2024-2025 and 95 in 2025-2026, and it compared those figures with 53 incidents in the last academic year before Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack. The report classified 149 of the 178 incidents as abusive behavior, and it also recorded two incidents classified as "extreme violence," six assaults, eight incidents of damage and desecration of Jewish property, 10 direct threats, and three cases of "mass-produced antisemitic literature."
“A total of 178 antisemitic incidents related to universities were recorded: 83 in the 2024-2025 period and 95 in the 2025-2026 period.”
The CST report said Instagram was the platform most used to perpetrate campus-related antisemitic incidents, and it said 16 antisemitic incidents involved university staff and faculty while 61 were committed by students. The CST report said 62% of the incidents had political motivations and many were linked to Israel, Gaza, or the events of October 7, and it said the data showed anti-Zionist language was frequently deployed alongside hostility towards Jews and Jewish organisations.