Our research shows that children in Europe’s schools find that differences in physical appearance, disability and skin colour are barriers to fitting in at school.

39% of students in the countries covered by the study say that physical appearance is the most common reason for children to make fun of each other in Europe’s schools, followed by disability at 34% and skin colour at 30%. The study showed marked differences between countries: 50% of students in Germany make fun of others because of disability compared to 15% in Spain; 46% of pupils in the UK consider bullying a problem in their school compared to 16% in the Netherlands; and 41% of Italian students said race was a reason compared to 22% of Belgians.

The research was conducted across 47 schools in Europe who were chosen for their mix of children from different backgrounds.

Of the 3,500 children surveyed across Europe, first generation migrants were almost 20% more likely to be bullied in the last 3 months, 50% more likely to have been made fun of and 50% more likely to need help in school because they do not understand.

When asked how to remedy the situation, one-fifth of the children replied that they think there should be more religious holidays recognised in the school calendar, better inductions for migrant children and parents when they start school and more time to discuss differences in backgrounds and cultures in class: all solutions that will be contained in the White Paper that is being presented to the European Parliament on 29 February.

READ THE FULL RESULTS