Conspiracy and Disinformation: Education
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of including (a) misinformation, (b) disinformation and (c) conspiracy theories in the guidance entitled Keeping children safe in education, published on 1 September 2025, on schools; and whether she plans to update the guidance to include information for teachers on tackling this issue.
Answered by Josh MacAlister
In response to stakeholder feedback, an amendment was made to paragraph 135 in the statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’. This came into force on 1 September 2025, and provided further examples of content risks.
The department recognises the significant risks these issues pose to children’s safety and wellbeing, as they can distort understanding, undermine trust and expose pupils to harmful narratives online.
The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review highlighted the importance of all pupils developing the skills they need to identify and challenge misinformation. In making changes to the curriculum, we will support this by strengthening media literacy content in citizenship and English and making citizenship compulsory in primary school so that all children are introduced to this vital content at an early stage.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →