Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the provision of non-partisan political and democratic education in schools prior to the introduction of the forthcoming Elections Bill.

Teaching about democracy and elections already forms a central part of the secondary national curriculum for citizenship and can be taught as a non-statutory topic in primary schools.

Education is a vital part of implementing the government's commitment to extend the right to vote to 16 and 17 years olds. The government takes empowering and equipping young people with the knowledge and skills they need seriously, and wants to break down barriers and drive participation in our democracy.

Following the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review recommendations, the department has committed to make citizenship compulsory in primary schools and to publish revised programmes of study to ensure that all pupils receive an essential grounding in a range of topics including democracy, government and law. We will consult on programmes of study next year and the new national curriculum will be published in 2027 for first teaching in 2028.

The department’s guidance on political impartiality supports schools with teaching about political issues in line with their statutory duties.