A record number of suspected extremists were referred to the Government’s Prevent scheme last year, alarming new figures show.
Some 8,778 cases were referred to experts, a 27% increase from 6,922 in 2023/24, according to new data published by the Home Office.
The figures show a shocking rise in young people feared to hold radical views and a sharp increase in people fascinated with extreme violence and mass casualty attacks.
More than one in five, 1,798, referred to Prevent were believed to hold extreme right wing ideology – double the number of cases, 870, linked to Islamist extremist.
The findings will prompt renewed debate over the programme’s failure to pick up potential jihadists when Islamist terror remains the biggest threat in the UK.
The proportion of referrals for extreme right-wing concerns increased year on year slightly, from 19% to 21%, while the proportion for Islamist extremism fell from 13% to 10%.
Of the 8,759 referrals to Prevent where the age of the individual was known, 11 to 15-year-olds accounted for the largest proportion (3,192 or 36%), followed by 16-17-year-olds (1,178, or 13%).
There were 345 referrals (4% of the total) for children aged 10 or under.
Following initial screening and assessment, Prevent referrals who are deemed at risk of radicalisation may be passed to a multi-agency “Channel panel”.
Chaired by local authorities, these panels determine the extent of a person’s susceptibility to radicalisation and whether a tailored package of support is necessary and proportionate to address the risk.
Of the 8,778 referrals made to Prevent in the year to March 2025, 1,727 individuals were discussed at a Channel panel and 1,472 were adopted as a Channel case.
Individuals aged between 11 and 15 accounted for 39% of all cases adopted as a Channel case.