Nearly a quarter of parents say Brighton and Hove schools are not dealing with bullying, new figures show.

Ofsted statistics for the year to September 2023 showed 2,466 parents were asked if their child has been bullied and whether the school dealt with it "quickly and effectively".

Of the 759 parents that said the question was relevant to them, 23 per cent disagreed or strongly disagreed that the school handled the bullying effectively.

Across England, 32 per cent of parents said their child's school did not deal with bullying well.

The data covers private and public nurseries, primary schools, secondary schools and special schools.

Martha Evans, director of the Anti-Bullying Alliance, said bullying behaviour is a "persistent problem" in schools.

"We know that almost a quarter of children say they are being bullied frequently face to face so it is unacceptable that understanding how to deal with bullying isn’t a mandatory part of initial teacher training,” she said.

"There are many examples of school staff who do a great job for the children that rely on them, but we must do more.

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"If we get better at equipping staff to root out the problem, take a whole-school approach to tackling bullying and make sure there is a senior teacher leading the way, then the serious implications of being bullied can be lessened."

The figures showed 11 per cent of parents across England said their children were not happy in their school and nine per cent did not feel safe in the schools.

In Brighton and Hove, seven per cent of parents said their child was not happy at their school while seven per cent said they did not feel safe.

David Johnston, minister for children, families and wellbeing, said: "Bullying is never acceptable, which is why this government is committed to working with schools to create good behaviour cultures and to improve approaches to tackling bullying.

"We’ve created behaviour hubs across the country, included teaching respect and inclusivity as part of the RHSE curriculum and provided more than £3 million of funding to anti-bullying organisations to support their vital work."

Co-chairman of the council’s children, families and schools committee, Councillor Jacob Taylor, said: “I know how much of a concern school bullying issues can be for families and pupils, and am saddened whenever I hear of such things.

“But I am confident that all our schools take bullying very seriously.

“Our education team offers support and guidance to our schools on dealing effectively with bullying issues.

“However, schools take their own decisions about what policies and strategies their school use in this area.

“I’m really pleased that Brighton and Hove is considerably lower than the national average for the numbers of parents dissatisfied with the way their children’s schools deal with bullying.”