Bullying in special schools: Types, frequency and school staff's self‐efficacy

Journal article

Bullying is an education and health priority. The existing evidence has primarily focused on mainstream schools, with few studies conducted in special education schools. The present study aimed to quantify school staff's observations of bullying in special schools, also presenting by school specialism. The second part measured school staff self‐efficacy when dealing with bullying. A total of 72 school staff sampled from special schools in England participated in an anonymous survey with closed‐ and open‐ended questions. Results indicated that physical, verbal, and relational bullying were all evident in special schools, yet the observed frequency pattern changed when schools were split by specialism. Moreover, t‐test showed no significant difference between classroom and non‐classroom staff, gender or years of experience regarding self‐efficacy when dealing with bullying, but significant differences were found showing higher self‐efficacy for those who had received training on dealing with bullying. An understanding of bullying from the special school staff perspective provides insight for the development of anti‐bullying programmes or training on dealing with bullying, specifically designed for learners or school staff in special schools.

Authors: Lee, NWT; Badger, JR

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Wiley
• Journal: Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 2
• Article number: e70071
• Publication date: 2026-02-16
• Acceptance date: 2026-02-05
• DOI: 10.1111/1471-3802.70071
• EISSN: 1471-3802
• ISSN: 1471-3802
• Language: English
• Keywords: school specialism; school staff; special school; SEND; bullying; self‐efficacy