Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on steps to increase democratic education.

For secondary schools, democracy is currently taught through the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, which covers parliamentary democracy, the key elements of the constitution of the United Kingdom, the power of government and how citizens and Parliament hold it to account. Primary schools can choose to teach citizenship, using non-statutory programmes of study at key stages 1 and 2.

Support for curriculum delivery is available through optional, free and adaptable resources from Oak National Academy (Oak). Oak launched its new curriculum sequences for secondary citizenship earlier this academic year, with the full package of curriculum resources expected to be available by autumn 2025. Oak resources are available here: https://www.thenational.academy/.

The UK Parliament runs educational tours for pupils, youth and community groups to see how Parliament works in action and produces free resources.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport funds the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) to support young people to engage in the democratic process. Every two years, the UKYP runs ‘Make Your Mark,’ a youth vote open to all 11 to 18 year-olds in the UK, for them to be able to vote on what are the most important issues for young people.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, conducted by a group of education leaders and chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The terms of reference were published last July and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/curriculum-and-assessment-review.

The review group will publish an interim report in early spring setting out its interim findings and confirm key areas for further work. Its final report, with recommendations, will be published this autumn. The department will take decisions on what changes to make in light of these recommendations.