Schools: Political Impartiality
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure teaching materials used in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools are (i) politically impartial and (ii) present a balanced view of (A) political and (B) historical events.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
In 2022 the department published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance is clear that all schools should take full responsibility for ensuring lessons and materials are age appropriate, suitable and politically impartial, particularly when using materials produced by external organisations. The guidance also highlights that legal duties on political impartiality are unlikely to be relevant when teaching about political events from previous historical periods. However, the guidance is clear that, when teaching about more recent historical events, it is important to ensure that political issues that remain contentious today are presented to pupils in a balanced manner.
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