Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to include media literacy within the English curriculum as part of the ongoing curriculum review.

The current English language GCSE curriculum equips students with critical reading and comprehension skills. They learn to identify and interpret themes in diverse texts, read for various purposes, draw inferences, support viewpoints with evidence and identify bias.

In its interim report, the Curriculum and Assessment Review noted the importance of the curriculum keeping pace with the rise of artificial intelligence and trends in digital information. To address this, as well as securing learning in foundational subjects, the curriculum needs to reflect the growing demand for key knowledge and skills such as digital and media literacy and critical thinking skills.

The Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report and recommendations will be published in the autumn, at which point the government will respond.