Almost 60% of pupils accidentally stumble on unverified Holocaust content on social media

Researchers from the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education also found widespread misconceptions around who was responsible for the Holocaust and what caused the atrocities. 

The findings are published as the world marks UN Human Rights Day, which this year focuses on Holocaust Remembrance. It also follows the recent Curriculum and Assessment Review, which recommended that Holocaust education remain part of the revised National Curriculum. 

For the report, the Centre surveyed 2,778 students in 21 secondary schools across England, with the majority (83.9%) in Years 8 or 9. The study builds on a 2016 national survey of 7,952 students.  

The researchers found that 59.4% of students say they have seen information about the Holocaust on social media when they were not looking for it. Among this group, 66.4% saw it on TikTok, 36.9% on YouTube and 19.1% on Instagram. 

Of those who had stumbled across Holocaust content online, 21.1% reported “quite a lot” or “a lot” of trust in social media, and 38.0% said they had “little or no trust” in their teachers. 

Researchers highlight that while there has been marked improvement in some areas of knowledge about the Holocaust, such as correctly defining “antisemitism” which has risen from 28.3% in 2016 to 75.2% in 2025, major misconceptions persist.  

33.6% attribute sole responsibility for the Holocaust to Hitler, with many others naming Hitler and “the Nazis” but not recognising the wider web of complicity across Europe. 

Only 14.2% correctly identify that members of the German occupying forces who refused an order to kill Jewish people would typically be moved to other duties, rather than shot. 60.0% believe refusal meant “kill or be killed”, and 62.9% of those who answer incorrectly are confident they are right, even though only 14.2% had actually answered it correctly. 

Dr Andy Pearce, Director of the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education, said: “Our findings should serve as a warning. Students are arriving in the classroom with misconceptions about the Holocaust, shaped in part by misinformation they encounter on social media. More often than not, they are being served this content without seeking it out.

“While some of that information will be accurate, denial, distortion and conspiracy theories are only ever a few clicks away.

“Students should not be left to navigate that alone. They need teachers with the time and training to help them think critically about what they come across online.

““While there has been strong advances in what students know about the Holocaust, stubborn gaps and misunderstandings remain. If, for instance, students think only Hitler was responsible, they miss how ordinary people became complicit in atrocity. If they believe perpetrators had no agency, then they misunderstand how conformity can work and underestimate the role of prejudice and personal gain.

“The recent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s recommendation to keep teaching of the Holocaust compulsory at Key Stage 3 is welcome, but it must be backed with sufficient curriculum time and specialist teacher development. That is how students’ knowledge can be improved and misconceptions combatted.

“Next year marks 35 years of the Holocaust being named on the national curriculum. Now is the time for a renewed focus on how we help teachers to navigate the real world challenges they face. And now is the time for a national conversation on why students need to learn about the Holocaust and how it can be taught effectively eighty years on.” 

The research draws on four major national studies carried out by the Centre since 2008, involving more than 3,000 teachers and 12,000 students, making it the most sustained empirical research programme of its kind anywhere in the world. 

It highlights persistent structural pressures on schools that make high-quality Holocaust education harder to deliver. While the Holocaust has been a named topic in the National Curriculum for history since 1991, the Centre notes that the rapid growth of multi-academy trusts means most schools are no longer legally required to follow that curriculum. 

Teachers also report that curriculum time is under increasing pressure, particularly where schools have adopted a compressed two-year Key Stage 3. 42.8% in the Centre’s 2023 study said they faced difficulties teaching the Holocaust to Years 7 and 8 within a two-year Key Stage 3 programme. 

The UCL Centre for Holocaust Education is a world leader in research-informed Holocaust teaching. It offers free training, resources and research to schools across England and internationally, improving students’ understanding of the Holocaust and their ability to recognise and confront antisemitism and prejudice. The Centre is part of the UCL Institute of Education and is supported by the Department for Education with match funding from Pears Foundation. 

Image 

• IStock: Credit Rawpixel 

Links 

• Read Understanding attitudes, behaviours and actions during the Holocaust 
• UCL Centre for Holocaust Education 
• UCL Institute of Education  
• UN Human Rights Day 
• Dr Rebecca Hale  
• Dr Andy Pearce 
• Dr Eleni Karayianni 

Media contact  

Sophie Hunter  

T: +44 (0)7747 565 056, 

E: sophie.hunter@ucl.ac.uk