[SCS0050]
This briefing presents evidence for the need to strengthen and prioritise democracy education through the national curriculum subject of Citizenship. Drawing on recent research, teacher and student voice, and ACT’s national programmes, the findings highlight:
● Widening inequalities in democratic participation
● Strong evidence that Citizenship education improves political literacy, confidence and engagement—especially among disadvantaged and marginalised groups
● Inconsistencies in access to high-quality Citizenship education across schools
● A growing demand from educators and students for a curriculum that reflects modern democratic challenges
With the DfE’s Curriculum and Assessment Review currently underway and the proposal to Lower the Voting age, this is a critical opportunity to embed updated and renewed Citizenship subject programmes of study as a core entitlement for all pupils in the National Curriculum.
Citizenship education was introduced as a subject in the National Curriculum in 2002. In part, this followed a response to growing concerns in the 1990s about youth values, sparked by high-profile tragedies like the murders of Philip Lawrence the Head teacher of a west London school, and the murder of Stephen Lawrence and James Bulger. A turning point came with the 1997 White Paper Excellence in Schools, which led to the set up of an Advisory Group to look at the Teaching of Citizenship and Democracy in Schools, chaired by Professor, Sir Bernard Crick and which reported in September 1998, the Crick report . The group recommended that Citizenship become a statutory subject in the national curriculum with 5% of curriculum time. The government accepted this and introduced the subject in secondary education with a non-statutory framework for Citizenship in primary education. The curriculum incorporated three principles of effective Citizenship: social and moral responsibility; political literacy; and community involvement.
The curriculum was revised in 2008 to reflect the work of Sir Keith Ajegbo, who reported on Diversity and Citizenship across the curriculum, and adjustments to the content were made. In 2014, the government completed another review of the National Curriculum and made substantive cuts to the content of Citizenship in relation to teaching human rights and local democracy, instead prioritising teaching about national institutions, personal finance, and economic understanding.
Citizenship has been a national curriculum subject which is statutory at Key Stages 3 and 4 since 2002 and there is a GCSE Citizenship Studies qualification. In primary education Citizenship has a non statutory national programme of study which schools can choose to follow. Successive research and early subject based Ofsted inspections show Citizenship is most successful in schools where the subject is understood as having a distinct body of knowledge, understanding and skills which is planned and organised as a progressive, curriculum sequence with regular teaching time and has the support of leadership teams.
Despite Citizenship being a statutory subject at Key Stages 3 and 4 the subject is under-prioritised in too many schools and has suffered from inconsistent national messaging undermining the status and the quality of what is taught across schools. The challenges facing the subject can be summarised as:
● Curriculum squeeze: Some schools struggle or choose not to make time for Citizenship in their curriculum and timetable and national policy messaging has not be clear that this remains an expectation.
● Teacher shortage: Many schools do not have a subject specialist and there are very small number being trained.
● Subject conflation: Citizenship is often confused with PSHE/RSHE including sometimes by national actors (e.g. some organisations and Ofsted inspectors), which dilutes essential democratic content.
● Access inequalities: Students in disadvantaged areas are less likely to have access to GCSE Citizenship Studies—despite it being shown to have the greatest impact.
● Lack of leadership and support: where the subject is not led by a specialist teacher and is not well supported by the leadership and governance of the school.
Research by Henn, Sloam & Nunes (2025) for ACT demonstrates that studying GCSE Citizenship Studies (CS) leads to significantly improved political engagement and understanding:
● Higher political interest (63.1% vs. 47.3%) and news engagement (64.3% vs. 53.6%)
● Greater confidence in political understanding (70.7% vs. 63.5%)
● More trust in democratic institutions—including government, media and Parliament
● More support for Votes at 16 (62.4% vs. 47.6%)[1]
The impact is strongest among:
● Young women (+24.1% in interest, +16.8% in understanding)
● Racialised minority groups (+13.4% and +18% respectively)
● Working-class students and those without a declared social class (+15–23% increases in interest)
Students who studied GCSE CS were also more likely to want involvement in local decision-making and service design, demonstrating stronger commitment to active citizenship.
82% of GCSE CS students said the course made them feel more politically confident and informed.
In the second year of data collection for ACT’s National Citizenship Education Study (2023–25) which is being undertaken in collaboration with Middlesex University as part of the Active Citizenship in Schools programme to examine the impact of Citizenship education, we gathered data from:
● 2,798 students across 16 schools
● 95 schools who chose to complete a national teacher survey.
Key student findings:
● Students who have regular Citizenship lessons are more tolerant, more supportive of democracy, and more likely to vote
● A school climate that supports discussion and respect through an open classroom climate is strongly linked to higher civic confidence
● Disparities in experience by socio-economic or ethnic background were minimal when Citizenship was taught well—suggesting it is an inclusive foundation for democracy education.
Key teacher findings:
● Of those in the survey, 53% of schools reported having a Citizenship subject specialist teacher. While encouraging, this remains low compared to other humanities subjects such as History and Geography, where subject-specialist teaching is more likely to be the norm according to DFE workforce data.
● Fewer than half of schools have a consistent teaching team for Citizenship at Key Stage 3. Delivery is often shared across non-specialist staff, creating variability in quality and depth.
● Less than half reported consistent provision of democracy-focused content (e.g. voting, Parliament, law).
● Just one-third of teachers report regular access to CPD in Citizenship.
● While 85% ran active citizenship projects, many schools lack deeper, real-world democratic experiences (e.g. visits to Parliament or simulations).
● Subject leadership is inconsistent: While 63% of teachers said their school had a designated Citizenship subject lead, many of these roles are informal or combined with other responsibilities, limiting strategic oversight.
● Citizenship is often part of broader programmes: 68% of teachers reported that Citizenship is delivered through a combined PSHE/Citizenship/personal development curriculum, which often lacks subject-specific rigour or clear assessment structures.
● Assessment remains a weak spot: Less than 40% of respondents said their school had a clear approach to assessing Citizenship learning at Key Stage 3, making it harder to track progression and demonstrate impact.
● Active citizenship opportunities vary widely: While project-based learning is common, access to politicians and decision-makers (e.g. with MPs, councillors, or campaigners) is limited, especially in schools with fewer resources or limited external partnerships.
● Timetabling challenges: A significant number of teachers (around one-third) said that Citizenship is taught in irregular slots (e.g. once per fortnight or in collapsed timetable days), which hinders continuity and depth.
The NCES evidence shows that well-taught Citizenship with regular curriculum teaching time and specialist teachers leads to better citizenship and civic outcomes for pupils. This is matched in findings through international evidence collected through the IEA International Civics and Citizenship Study 2022.
3. ACT’s National Programmes Supporting Democracy Education
ACT leads a wide range of programmes designed to support teachers and students in delivering high-impact democracy education as part of high quality Citizenship subject education. These include national CPD, research-informed teaching resources, active citizenship guidance, and large-scale student participation initiatives.
In 2024, ACT ran its first Parallel Election Project, giving students across the UK the opportunity to experience democracy in action.
● 29,838 students across 413 schools took part in ACT’s student vote on 4 July 2024—held in parallel with the UK General Election.
● ACT released five weeks of teaching resources, plus post-election materials, to support real-time learning about parties, manifestos, and political processes. To date, the resources have been downloaded 9,871 times by 889 individuals.
● Exclusive video explainers by Professor John Curtice made complex electoral issues accessible and engaging.
The result? Student-voted in similar proportions to the national vote Labour victory (32.1%), followed by Reform UK (18.8%), the Green Party (18.1%), and the Liberal Democrats (13%). The Conservatives placed fifth with 8.3% of the vote.
“We are very passionate about engaging our students with the general election and politics more widely. We want them to get ‘into the habit’ of voting, grappling local, national and global issues and exercising their democratic rights. I have been hugely impressed with how much enthusiasm the students have shown for grilling our local candidates and learning about the manifestos of the different parties. We have shared with them the importance of being active participants in their society and I am very encouraged for the future led by them and their generation.”
— Mark Marande, Headteacher, The Petersfield School
“It’s important that young people get involved in politics early so that when we are at an age where we can vote, we are well informed and educated about the different policies that can affect our lives. Some young people may feel disillusioned by politics, however it’s been refreshing to see how much our school community has engaged with the 2024 General Election.”
— Sam, Year 10 student
“Citizenship teachers have a critical role to play in preparing young people as informed and active citizens. Our Parallel Election helped students learn how democracy, voting and elections work—and why their participation is vital.”
— Liz Moorse, Chief Executive, ACT
Teachers and students reported that the project helped embed the habit of democratic engagement, supporting students to critically analyse manifestos, question candidates, and develop political literacy.
ACT’s commitment to democracy education is also delivered through a programme of high-quality CPD and national advocacy. Some of the CPD sessions were supported by the Electoral Commission. Sessions included:
● Regular CPD and webinars for teachers on political literacy, elections, campaigning and voting including voting rights, teaching controversial issues, active citizenship, media literacy and impartiality. 28 sessions were held across the 2023/2024 academic year. 24 sessions have been held so far in the 2024/2025 academic year, this has included in-person CPD as well as online events. ACT has also made 8 CPD sessions available on demand as well as developed and made available an online e-learning course ‘Media Matters’, which equips teachers with the tools and knowledge to confidently teach media and information literacy.
● CPD reaches hundreds of educators annually, building subject knowledge and confidence. 100% of attendees who provided feedback rate our training as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, with 95% saying they would recommend ACT training to a colleague. Selected comments from attendees include:
○ "Opportunities to share ideas, really insightful presenters who made difficult concepts very clear through excellent examples and a quality presentation. Great links to research and practical strategies." - ACT CPD Attendee
○ "The intersectional and local emphasis throughout was excellent and very helpful. Advice on helping students develop their thinking process was also great." - ACT CPD Attendee
○ "Well-structured, clear & engaging tone, friendly & warm demeanour, inclusive & responsive to participant contributions, many concrete examples & signposting to resources, clarity about OCR differences." - ACT CPD Attendee
○ “Practical ideas and resources. Clear information, not ambiguity." - ACT CPD Attendee
● Free resources aligned to GCSE Citizenship Studies and Key Stage 3 democracy content.
ACT also hosts policy and advocacy events to elevate the voice of Citizenship educators and students:
● Make Space for Citizenship (Nov 2024) – A national panel discussion bringing together students, teachers, parliamentarians and experts to respond to the Curriculum and Assessment Review and make the case for stronger Citizenship and democracy education
● Curriculum Review: Next Steps for Democracy Education (May 2025) – ACT hosted a follow-up discussion with The Politics Project, the Electoral Commission, and the DfE, exploring next step in the curriculum and assessment review and policy reform and strengthening Citizenship through curriculum change
● Young people, democracy and Citizenship - what the evidence tells us (June 2025) - A research led dissemination event to share findings from the research undertaken with Nottingham Trent University and Royal Holloway University.
● ACT Annual Citizenship Teaching Awards - a celebration (June 2025) - our annual reception and Awards places the spotlight on Teaching Citizenship and celebrates excellence
● Other key events include Engaging Young People in Democracy and Shaping the Future of Primary Citizenship, helping shape ACT’s collective response to government
These events have strengthened the case for:
● Statutory primary Citizenship provision
● Curriculum clarity on democracy, rights, and political systems
● Expanded teacher training pipelines for Citizenship specialists
ACT submitted a formal response to the DfE’s Curriculum and Assessment Review, drawing on a national evidence base from:
● Consultations with teachers and school leaders across ACT’s network; As of April 2025, ACT supports 3,672 teachers in 2,318 unique schools. Using national average figures, we estimate this to impact almost 1.3 million students.
● Input from the ACT Council and Citizenship specialists
● Evidence gathered from ACT-led events and student voice projects
● Engagement through over 100 meetings with interested parties and organisations who are keen to support Citizenship and democracy education.
ACT’s response outlines four core recommendations:
“This review presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reaffirm Citizenship’s role in preparing young people to navigate democracy, society and a fast-changing world.”
— ACT Response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, 2025
To support wider participation, ACT also published guidance and a summary of key messages to help schools, teachers, and supporters submit their own responses to the DfE consultation. These resources highlighted where teachers could emphasise Citizenship’s impact and advocate for stronger curriculum commitments.
The evidence is clear: Citizenship education equips young people with the knowledge, skills and confidence to participate fully in democratic life. It is particularly powerful in closing democratic inequalities and fostering inclusive political engagement.
As the government prepares to respond to the Curriculum and Assessment Review and explores broader reforms such as Lowering the Voting age, the role of Citizenship education as the vehicle for democracy education will become even more significant. ACT urges national policymakers to support a renewed commitment to strengthening democracy through high-quality, accessible Citizenship education for all and to put in place the school support and teacher training needed to ensure this becomes a reality in time for the first cohort who can vote from the age of 16 in general elections.
Annexes
30 May 2025
[1] This has been corrected by ACT from the figure of 44.4% originally provided.