PETITIONRejectedPetition · petition.parliament.uk

Introduce mandatory political education for 14-17 year olds (KS4/5)

The government should introduce basic political education for 16-17 year olds (KS4/5) who have recently gotten the vote, so they may be informed when voting. Basic education includes: The voting system (FPTP), The Parties (minor and major), Functions of Parliament. Can take place with PSHE.

Last fetched 18 May 2026 · petition.parliament.uk

Signatures

signatures

Government response threshold (10,000) · 21/10,000

Debate threshold (100,000) · 21/100,000

Petition progress2 events · Jul 2025

31 JUL 2025
Petition rejected
already-happening
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.
17 JUL 2025
Petition created

Background

We live in an era of disinformation and misinformation where opinions have become more prevalent than fact in elections. The only way to combat this, is to arm the new 16-17 years old voters with the knowledge of our political system, allowing them to resist the influences of social media and propaganda and focus on their own political interests when voting; Giving them the freedom to choose wisely as well as the incentive to carry on voting.