Thursday 1 October 2026, 15:45-16:45

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According to the 2026 John Smith Youth Poll, the UK's largest survey into young people's attitudes and outlooks on politics, economy, and society, undertaken by the University of Glasgow, only 16% of young people feel that school has prepared them to be politically active citizens.

Now, with the Representation of the People Bill  moving quickly through Parliament, the law will shortly change to permit sixteen and seventeen-year-olds the right to vote in UK-wide elections. The next General Election will happen, at the latest, in  2029. 

That means your Year 9s will be the first sixteen-year-olds to vote. Are they ready?

We will ask them to make a new, monumental decision, to be engaged and educated voters, and to take an informed role in the fundamental principles of our democracy.

Still, many schools report challenges in preparing students for this. This isn't their fault. It's because the system is not designed for this new responsibility. 

Unless students take GCSE Citizenship and/or A Level Politics, which is a small minority, they will never have a formal politics-based education.

Moreover, curriculum time and resources, both of which are already overstretched, do not exist to meaningfully, consistently and structurally educate young people to be politically literate within existing frameworks.

So, can anything be done? Absolutely, yes.

In this live webinar, you'll learn:

• How to recognise and respond to the challenges of preparing students for this new responsibility.
• Identify barriers to political education in schools and formulate school-centred strategies to overcome them.
• Consider approaches to developing students' enthusiasm, engagement, and education in politics, government, and democracy.
• Support teachers and parents to assist in delivering a school-wide approach to political education.

Spots are limited. Reserve your free place below.

NOTE: This workshop is for teachers and school leaders.