Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take with Cabinet colleagues to ensure young people have access to learning in nature settings.

In April 2022, the Department released its Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy. Key initiatives of this strategy include the National Education Nature Park and Climate Action Award. These programmes will engage children and young people with the natural world, and directly involve them in measuring and improving biodiversity in their nursery, school, college or university.

The Department has announced that £15 million will be provided, enabling schools, colleges, and nurseries to create opportunities for outdoor education in natural settings.

By 2025, the Department will aim to introduce a natural history GCSE, giving young people an opportunity to engage with and develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the natural world. In studying this GCSE, young people will explore organisms and environments in more depth and gain knowledge and practical experience of fieldwork. This new opportunity for education adds to fieldwork opportunities already available in subjects such as geography. As the Department delivers on the climate change strategy, the Department will continue to work across Government to identify opportunities for young people to access education in nature settings.