Education policy

Helping children and young people have a say on their education

Young Citizens is supporting the youth-led shadow Curriculum and Assessment review with Dr Becky Francis.

Lessons & Assemblies

Take part: The Big Legal Lesson 2025

Join thousands of teachers this February by downloading your free pack today!

Immersive Programmes

Build skills and community connections with the Make a Difference Challenge

Access training and our programme suite to deliver a classroom community action project with your students this year!

Political Literacy

Planning lessons after the general election?

With a new Government in place, explore our flexible democracy resource packs to help you embed political literacy in the classroom. Suitable for ages 5 to 18.

Teaching resources

Economic and Financial Literacy teaching resources

A free suite of lesson plans all about money - from personal finances to government spending.

Bringing citizenship education to life.

Young people have never needed democratic, political and media literacy skills more. For over 35 years we have helped state schools and colleges in the UK deliver compelling and relevant citizenship education that strengthens our communities and empowers young people.

Through our interactive programmes and easy-to-use lessons, we enable educators to nurture knowledgeable, inspired and active young citizens. Find out more below.

 

Our programmes

Citizenship Workshops

An inspiring corporate volunteering opportunity Join us as a leader in shaping the leaders and citizens of tomorrow. This...

Mock Trials

Register your interest for the Mock Trial Competitions 2025-2026 The Mock Trial Competitions are our longest-running active learning experiences....

Make a Difference Challenge

A child-led social action programme that empowers some of our youngest citizens.

3,000

schools and colleges use our lessons & assemblies

Over half

of UK local authorities are reached by our work every year

10,000

children and young people directly engaged annually

About us

Working across the UK, we deliver learning experiences that light the spark of active citizenship from an early age.

Established in 1989 by Lord Phillips OBE and a group of democracy education experts, we specialise in civic literacy and linking political, media, economic and legal education to real-world contexts for 5-18 year olds through interactive learning programmes.

Our charity helped define the UK citizenship curriculum and is one of the largest providers of legal education for 5-18 year olds. Find out more about our programmes and the basics of citizenship education.

Lesson and assembly packs

Register to use our free resource library for primary and secondary schools! Access over 200 lessons and assemblies that support citizenship learning, SMSC and PSHE in your school or college.

1 in 5

UK schools have downloaded our teaching resources

300,000

school children have taken part in our social action programmes since 2008

15,420

primary teachers have been trained by our team over the past decade

Support us

Whether as volunteer, donor or organisational partner, your support helps us create informed, empowered and confident young citizens.