Preventing Radicalisation

With increasing concerns about the radicalisation of young people, there is a need to actively challenge extremist views and prevent young people being drawn into terrorism. Keeping children safe from harm includes keeping them safe from extreme ideologies and behaviours.

As organisations working with children and young people, we must have an awareness of the potential influences of extremist ideology and the risks of radicalisation. This means knowing the children and young people you work with well, and understanding the dynamics of peer groups, their families and the local community (see contextual safeguarding). 

To counter the risks, we can promote positive discussion and adoption of the fundamental values of tolerance, respect, liberty and the rule of law through role-modelling and direction. 

Terrorist groups often draw on extremist ideology. Some people who join terrorist groups or carry out lone terrorist acts have previously been members of or followed extremist organisations and have been radicalised by them. 

The most significant terrorist threat in the UK is currently from terrorist activity linked to far right and Islamist extremists who pose a continued threat to our safety and security. There is also concern about other extremist ideologies, for example, extreme left-wing, environmental extremism, antisemitism, and extreme misogyny. 

All children and young people are at risk, regardless of age, social class, religion, ethnicity or educational background. However, certain things can make children more vulnerable to radicalisation, including: 

• struggling with a sense of identity and belonging; 
• becoming distanced from their cultural or religious background; 
• questioning their place in society; 
• having family issues; 
• experiencing/have experienced a traumatic event; 
• experiencing mental ill-health; 
• experiencing racism or discrimination; 
• having difficulty interacting socially and lacking empathy; 
• not always understanding the consequences of their actions; 
• presenting with poor self-esteem. 

Just as it should for any harmful matters, settings should create an environment where radicalising ideologies are challenged and are not permitted to flourish. In practice, this means:

• Settings should have measures in place to prevent their facilities being exploited by radicalisers, including ensuring that IT equipment is not being used to access/facilitate the spread of extremist narratives which encourage people to participate in or support terrorism, and assessing the potential risks of external speakers expressing such narratives. 
• Settings should have a named lead in a senior management role who is responsible for delivering the Prevent duty (see below). 
• Settings should ensure that staff receive appropriate training (DSLs and/or Prevent leads should receive more in-depth training). 
• We must ensure that there is reference to radicalisation as part of wider safeguarding duties. 
• We must assess the risk to individual children as well as cohorts within settings. 
• We must report concerns when necessary, co-operate with local authority-led Channel panels, and engage with other partners, such as the police and Prevent leads in local authorities. 
• We should build resilience to radicalisation through the curriculum and promotion of fundamental British values. 
• We must be able to evidence safeguarding arrangements to promote pupils’ welfare and prevent radicalisation and extremism. 

The government strategy to combat terrorism is known as CONTEST. Within this wider strategy is the Prevent duty which has three specific strategic objectives: 

• tackle the ideological causes of terrorism 
• intervene early to support people susceptible to radicalisation 
• enable people who have already engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate 

Lessons for Prevent, the Independent Report for the Home Office completed by Lord Anderson in July 2025 looked at two cases where schools had referred a student to Prevent appropriately, but the correct early intervention (intervention is via the Channel programme) was not offered to those young people. Tragically, these young people went on to enact deadly stabbing attacks. When something has not worked well in a multi-agency system, it can cause confusion and a loss of confidence and some people said there was a lack of clarity on the thresholds within which Prevent operates, particularly in relation to cases related to 'fascinated with extreme violence or mass casualty attacks'.

Frontline professionals and practitioners and can remain clear and confident in their understanding of the Prevent duty if they remember the Key Principles of Prevent.

1. Prevent aims to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. A referral should be made if there is concern that a person may be on a pathway that could lead to terrorism. 
2. Prevent is the only programme which offers multi-agency radicalisation risk management and support. 
3. While ideology is an important consideration, a clear identifiable ideology is not mandatory to make or adopt a Prevent referral.
4. Each case is unique, and a range of considerations and factors should be taken into account to form a clearer picture. A person’s vulnerabilities may, or may not, be relevant to their susceptibility to radicalisation and to the early intervention approach that is required to divert them away from radicalisation.
5. If a person is considered at risk of being drawn into terrorism, a Prevent referral should be made or adopted to Channel programme.

The Prevent programme provides training for frontline professionals to help them understand and implement the Prevent duty and protect vulnerable children in their care. (See resources section below.)