Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of teaching (i) the Countryside Code and (ii) practical map-reading skills as part of the National Curriculum.

There are opportunities within the geography and citizenship curriculums to teach about the countryside code, although this does not feature as a stand-alone topic in the National Curriculum. However, the National Curriculum is a framework designed to give teachers the freedom and flexibility to choose topics with relevance to the subject.

Map-reading skills are set out within the current geography curriculum.

In reforming the curriculum following the Curriculum and Assessment Review, we are clear that practical disciplinary knowledge and skills should be enhanced.