SummaryThe study described represents an attempt to investigate the attitudes of English boys and girls in the last year of their primary school to victims of bullying. The process employed is similar to that first described by Rigby and Slee (1991) who collected data from children in Adelaide. Their findings concerning the frequency of bully/victim problems was roughly in line with findings from Norway, Great Britain and Ireland and so their results on attitudes towards victims probably reflect accurately general trends. It is clear, however, that within‐school attempts to prevent bullying must take into account the trend of attitudes towards victims. It is also clear that sub‐cultural and familial influences will largely determine the nature of these trends. It is appropriate, therefore, to determine variations in trends when the children sampled come from areas with a high frequency of bullying. As part of a large anti‐bullying initiative, Rigby and Slee's questionnaire assessing attitudes towards victims was administered to 316 children, aged 11, who are attending the final year of 4 primary schools where bullying rates were approximately 4 times greater than rates previously reported. Specific attitudes to bullying were identified that would need to be targeted during within‐school anti‐bullying initiatives.