Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a Digital Citizenship Qualification to educate children on interaction with the online world.

Following the final report of the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, the government is focused on delivering the reforms set out in its response to the Review, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-final-report-government-response.

These reforms will strengthen the knowledge and skills that young people need to thrive in a rapidly changing digital world.

This includes replacing GCSE computer science with a broader computing GCSE to strengthen digital literacy within computing. Together with new statutory media literacy content in citizenship, introduced from primary onwards, our reforms will cover artificial intelligence, data science and technological bias, supported by digital skills embedded in other subjects, where relevant.

The department believes that the best way to equip young people with the digital literacy and media literacy they need is through a strong curriculum that reaches all pupils, rather than through an optional standalone qualification.