It looked at the location, design, and management of 59 schools in London, conducting interviews with teachers and caretakers, analyzing records, and performing site surveys. The study found that the design of schools was important in determining their vulnerability to burglary. Small, old, and compact schools had few burglaries, while large, modern schools had more. Small, old schools afforded fewer opportunities for burglars to gain access to school premises without being seen than the larger schools. This was irrespective of the type of area in which the school was located or pupil characteristics. Some of the larger schools, however, had lower rates of burglary than others -probably due to a mixture of environmental, social, and educational factors. Situational measures offer the best prospects for reducing school burglary, although there seems to be limited scope for redesigning existing schools or for building new, more defensible ones. Prevention efforts should be focused on the most vulnerable schools. Tactics recommended are better planning of fire regulations, improved lighting, additional nighttime supervision, better access security, and improved security management. Footnotes, data tables, study methodology, and about 45 references are supplied. Study methodology is appended.