Democracy Starts in the Classroom: The Government’s Big Chance to Get It Right

Response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review. Building a world-class curriculum for all – Final Report

Time to Go Further on Democracy in Education

The government have just released the full Curriculum and Assessment Review – Building a world-class curriculum for all. You can find it here.

I got up early yesterday to read the report in full. I’d already heard Bridget Phillipson being interviewed on the BBC and read some of the initial reactions in the media, most of which, as usual, focused on the headline recommendations.

What always frustrates me about education reviews, not just in the UK but worldwide, is that they often snip around the edges of what already exists. There’s rarely any real shift in direction. This report does some of that too. The tone is mostly: “the current curriculum is fine, just a bit cluttered.”

But there are some encouraging winds blowing through it, and if the government are brave enough, they could build those into a genuine change.

Teachers can’t keep doing more with less

From a teacher’s and educators point of view (and I’ve been one for over thirty years), the problem is always time. The school day is already full, workloads are unsustainable, and every “new initiative” lands on top of an already overloaded system.

So when reforms come along, even with good intentions, there’s no room for them to take root unless something else gives way. The report stops short of scrapping GCSEs (which I personally think would be a good idea) but at least it hints that exams could be shorter. That’s something.

We’ve been told for years that we need to prepare children for an unpredictable future where they might have 10 or 20 different jobs. Twenty years ago, it was “the internet” that was going to change everything. Now it’s AI. Yet we’re still stuck with a system built around exams and compliance.

The report says:

“We have sought to ensure the curriculum is fit for the future, addresses the rich knowledge and skills young people need to thrive in our fast-changing world, and encourages a love of learning.”

I agree with that sentence, but after decades of working in and leading schools, I don’t believe we’ve yet found a system that truly delivers it.

Democracy and Civics: where we can go further

On page 7 of the report, the panel rightly says that education plays a crucial role in “promoting social cohesion and democracy.”

They also recommend that Citizenship becomes statutory from Key Stage 1, helping every child learn about democracy, law, and financial literacy from the start. I couldn’t agree more.

But here’s where we need to go further.

Too often, when we talk about democracy in education, we immediately jump to “civics lessons.” We add another subject. Another box to tick. But if we really want young people to understand democracy, they need to live it, not just learn about it.

I’ve seen first-hand how this works. In the democratic schools I’ve helped lead, students take part in real elections, run their own meetings, and make real decisions that affect their community. They also operate justice systems which are student-run committees that use restorative processes rather than punishment. It’s messy at times, yes, but it’s real.

These are the moments when students learn what democracy feels like: compromise, debate, responsibility, and empathy.

So while I welcome the report’s recognition that civic education matters, I want the government to go a step further. I want them to support schools that embed democracy into their daily culture. Class and year-group councils could be a start. Give schools the freedom, time, and trust to make it real.

It feels like we’ve lost the middle ground

It feels like we’ve lost the middle ground in UK politics at the moment. Many people are stuck in their own corner, arguing instead of listening. We’ve stopped looking for what unites us, and that sense of shared purpose that once held things together is disappearing. Children are growing up in a world where adults can’t even agree on what truth looks like, where shouting has replaced listening, and where opinions are treated as enemies rather than ideas to explore.

If democracy is going to mean anything in the next generation, it has to start here in schools. Not just in classrooms, but in corridors, meetings, and every decision we model as adults. I’ve seen what happens when young people are trusted to lead, to listen, and to take responsibility. They surprise us and they restore a kind of hope that’s missing in so much of public life right now.

The Review also links civics to media literacy, climate education, financial literacy, and democratic engagementconnecting these to preparing pupils for a “lowering of the voting age to 16”. 

Here’s an article I wrote supporting about this:called ¨ Real Democracy in Schools Why Lowering the Voting Age Must Go Hand in Hand With Change in Education¨ https://substack.com/home/post/p-171918624

Time in the day

Educators I’ve spoken to over and over again ask, “But where’s the time?” The truth is, we need to find time for what we value. If democracy, civics, and community cohesion are seen as optional extras, they’ll always be squeezed out by test prep. If we want to build a society that listens better than it shouts, where young people feel their voice matters, then this is worth the time.

The report has opened the door slightly by mentioning a reduction in exam time. I think we need to push it open properly. This is the moment to act  and to design schools that genuinely prepare young people not just for work, but for life together.

Right now, the adults in the system (the population who went through the current version of education) are the very ones struggling to listen to each other. That alone should tell us it’s time for change.

You can also read: An Argumnet for Real Democracy in Schools: https://substack.com/home/post/p-177002415

Ben Kestner