Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that all pupils have access to high-quality Citizenship education at Key Stages 3 and 4.

Currently, citizenship education is taught through the statutory national curriculum at key stages 3 and 4.

The government’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, published in November 2025, committed to making citizenship statutory at primary and strengthening primary and secondary content, focusing on government, law and democracy, climate education, financial and media literacy and improving progression to GCSE.

Working closely with the sector, we are working towards a first teaching of the new curriculum from September 2028.

On 4 May, the Key Stage 4 Performance Measures and Targeted regional improvements for standards and excellence (RISE) consultation closed. This included proposals to improve the Progress 8 model to maintain a strong academic core and ensure breadth and choice for every child. We are analysing responses from the consultation and will publish our response in summer 2026.