Citizenship strengthened in the national curriculum: what this means for schools

The Department for Education has confirmed that Citizenship will be strengthened in the national curriculum following the publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review.

This includes making Citizenship compulsory in primary for the first time, and strengthening the subject throughout secondary. Primary pupils will now be taught early foundations in democracy, law and rights, media literacy, financial literacy, and climate education,  including explicit teaching on how to recognise false and misleading information online.

The Education Secretary has described this as part of a “Plan for Change” and a commitment to help young people “step boldly into the future, with the knowledge to achieve and the skills to thrive.”

For ACT, this is a major milestone. We have consistently called for a coherent, universal entitlement to Citizenship from KS1 through post-16, alongside support for specialist teachers and today’s reforms move us closer to that goal.

What does this mean for teachers and schools?

Primary schools

For the first time, Citizenship content will be a statutory requirement with new programmes of study at KS1 and KS2.
This means:

• core concepts such as democracy, participation, law and rights will now be taught from the earliest age

• a new emphasis on media literacy, including recognising misinformation and disinformation

• primary pupils will be introduced to financial education and climate-related learning through a Citizenship lens

The Government has said it will look for the earliest opportunity to legislate this statutory change at KS1–2, and has been clear that this is about ensuring all pupils acquire the essential knowledge and skills to be “active, informed and responsible citizens.”

This represents a major opportunity to build consistent foundations and to ensure children understand their rights, responsibilities and voice within school life and their wider community.

Secondary schools

Citizenship remains a statutory national curriculum subject at KS3 and KS4, and the Review confirms a strengthened subject model across secondary. Revised Programmes of study will be published in 2027 with first teaching in 2028.  GCSE reforms will follow, with development work beginning ahead of first teaching from 2029, or 2030 (depending on phasing).

Research from ACT in partnership with Nottingham Trent and Royal Holloway shows that students who take GCSE Citizenship Studies are more likely to understand how politics works, express political interest and intention to vote, trust democratic institutions more, and that gains are strongest for young women and students from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

In the Government response, secondary Citizenship is also explicitly framed as a continuation of the core content in primary, with a focus on democracy, government, law, rights, climate, and financial and media literacy, and ensuring progression through to GCSE.

Oracy, enrichment and participation

The Government has also announced:

• a new oracy framework

• a new core enrichment entitlement for every pupil (including civic engagement)

Both measures strengthen the wider environment in which Citizenship is developed and experienced. High-quality talk, structured discussion and participation in civic life are central components of active citizenship – not add-ons.

Whole-school ethos: why this matters

ACT’s recent research with Middlesex University shows that where Citizenship is taught regularly in discrete lessons, pupils score higher in:

• civic and political knowledge

• support for democracy

• trust in institutions

• personal and political toleration

• intentions to participate in democratic life as adults

This is further evidence that Citizenship education supports inclusion, belonging and participation, and helps reduce civic inequality.

Timelines

Work now begins on curriculum development and implementation, new Programmes of Study will be published in 2027, with implementation from 2028 with the new primary statutory requirements due to take effect in 2028. GCSE redevelopment will follow, with first teaching from 2029 or 2030 (depending on phasing).

We expect more detail from the DfE on sequencing, teacher training support and transition planning over the coming months.

What about Votes at 16?

The Government has confirmed its policy intention to lower the voting age to 16 across the UK. Today’s national curriculum reforms help lay essential groundwork for this by guaranteeing that all pupils will now receive consistent democratic education throughout their schooling.

The Government response directly connects the voting age change with curriculum reform noting that schools will be supported to “capitalise on the greater relevance and engagement” that Votes at 16 brings.

How ACT will support you

We will:

• publish guidance on curriculum design and planning and update the ACT KS1–KS4 Citizenship curriculum framework aligned to the new requirements

• launch new primary-focused training and curriculum resources to support planned, coherent and sequenced teaching

• update existing materials to reflect changes in media literacy, financial education, climate and sustainability and democracy education

• review how our model curriculum resources reflect and develop the new oracy framework

• continue working with the Electoral Commission to support democratic education and younger voters

• expand our e-learning offer to support those teaching Citizenship and developing their subject specialism

• continue to push for improvements to impartiality guidance, specialist teacher training, and Ofsted  inspection of the Citizenship as a subject.

We will share further updates as we receive implementation detail from the Department.

Final word

This is a landmark moment for Citizenship.

Schools have been waiting a long time for clarity and today’s reforms mark a significant step forward in ensuring no child misses out.

ACT stands ready to support teachers, leaders and policy partners to make this a reality.