Rejected petition Mandatory politics education for secondary school years
On the 17th of July 2025, the Government announced plans to allow 16–17-year-olds to vote in all UK elections. The introduction of mandatory modern political education in PSHE would aid the next generation of voters with making an informed decision on polling days.
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The aim of ‘boosting democratic engagement’ cannot truly be met without providing the appropriate political education in schools- of which should be up to date and unbiased.
Currently, teaching politics in PSHE is only a suggestion despite its ever-so increasing importance in British society following these recent election reforms.
Democracy cannot be achieved if citizens are unaware of voting practises and/or manifestos.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
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Schools are already required to teach citizenship as part of the secondary national curriculum.
The citizenship curriculum includes content on how the United Kingdom is governed, its political system and how citizens participate actively in its democratic systems of government.
You can read the citizenship programmes of study for secondary school here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-citizenship-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-citizenship-programmes-of-study-for-key-stages-3-and-4
If you would like to make a change to the current arrangements, you can start a petition setting out clearly what you would like to change, such as submitting a petition about making politics a core specific subject.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.