Real Democracy in Schools.Why Lowering the Voting Age Must Go Hand in Hand With Change in Education

The UK government’s decision to lower the voting age from 18 to 16 has drawn both praise and concern. People in support argue that young people already contribute to society through work, taxes, and volunteering, and that voting from 16 will encourage lifelong engagement in the democratic process. I’ve heard critics question whether teenagers have the maturity or life experience to vote responsibly some of them pointing out inconsistencies in other legal age thresholds such as drinking or military service. But I think that the more urgent question is this: 

‘Are schools preparing young people to understand what democracy really means’

Surveys show that most young people in the UK support democracy, but a sizeable minority (around 20–30%) express openness to “strong leaders” or other non-democratic alternatives. This is not necessarily a rejection of democracy itself; it can reflect a frustration with political systems that feel unresponsive or irrelevant to their daily lives.

At present, the national curriculum in the UK includes Citizenship Education for students aged 11–16, covering democracy, rights, and government. But in practice, the subject is often squeezed for time, delivered inconsistently, or reduced to abstract lessons about Parliament and elections. Student councils exist in many schools, but these bodies rarely show real influence. For many pupils, their only exposure to democracy in school is voting for the prom theme or deciding on a charity fundraiser.

For more than a decade, I have led and helped build democratic schools, where students don’t just learn about democracy, they live it. Every day, governance is shared between staff and students through structures such as:

• Community Meetings, where rules and policies are debated and voted on.
• Peer Justice Committees, where students resolve conflicts and hold one another accountable.
• Elected committees, with responsibility for areas like technology, events, or sustainability.

This kind of democracy is not tidy. It can be slow, frustrating, and emotionally charged. But that is precisely why it is powerful: students learn that democracy is about compromise, persistence, and responsibility not instant gratification. They discover that their voice is not just heard but can really shape the environment they live and learn in. They engage in long discussions and debates.

In democratic schools I have been part of, we went a step further. We built a civics curriculum that connected democratic practice with explicit learning goals, ensuring pupils  developed not only the skills to participate but also the language and frameworks to understand what they were doing.

To support this, we used Volantis, an educational platform that allowed us to document and make visible how students were engaging in democratic processes. Instead of abstract essays on “what democracy means,” students could see their own participation in committees, meetings, and votes as part of their learning journey. This integration of daily practice with curriculum created a culture where democracy wasn’t a special event it became the fabric of school life.

Since 16- and 17-year-olds will have the right to vote in the UK, they must leave school with the experience and confidence to use that right meaningfully. Simply teaching the mechanics of elections or running token councils won’t be enough. Young people need to know from an early age that their voice can change things.

We know from democratic schools, which have been refining these models for over a century, that embedding real participation works. Students become more engaged, more responsible, and more resilient. They understand that democracy is hard work, but also that it belongs to them.

The UK now faces a choice. Lowering the voting age can be a symbolic gesture or it can spark a genuine re-imagining of how we prepare young people for civic life. We’ll only make this reform meaningful if schools let young people experience democracy in practice, not just in name.

From my own experience, I know it is possible to integrate these practices into mainstream state education. I have seen schools where students co-govern with staff, where disciplinary issues are resolved through fair process, and where curriculum and daily life reinforce each other. It is not easy, but it is transformative.

As the UK offers the  ballot box to 16-year-olds, it is time to open the doors of our schools to real democracy. Not as a subject, not as a sideline, but as the foundation of education itself.

Democracy cannot be taught only through textbooks; it must be practiced, argued over, and lived. If we want young people to believe that their vote matters, we must start by showing them that their voice already does.

Ben Kestner