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The PSHE Association strongly welcomes the decision by the UK Youth Parliament to make a ‘curriculum for life’ – including comprehensive, statutory PSHE education – its main campaign priority in England for the year ahead.

Young Parliamentarians held a robust debate in the Commons on Friday 11th November before voting overwhelmingly to focus on campaigning for an education that provides young people with the skills, knowledge and attributes to make the most of a challenging world.

A ballot of over 978,000 young people decided what topics to be debated, with a ‘curriculum for life’ the most popular.

The UK Youth Parliament also chose a ‘curriculum for life’ as its main campaign in 2014 and in recent years have campaigned on PSHE related topics including mental health and reducing racism and religious discrimination.

PSHE Association Chief Executive Jonathan Baggaley said:

“Young people are struggling with the pressures and anxieties of today’s world. With this vote they are telling us they want schools to prepare them to meet these challenges through PSHE education and citizenship education.

The fact that this is a continuing priority for the UK Youth Parliament tells us once again that not enough has been done to improve the status of PSHE education.  As a result, it’s getting less time on the curriculum even though young people, parents and teachers know it’s needed more than ever.

We hope that the Government listens and strengthens the status of PSHE education in all schools for the good of our young people, and our society. We look forward to supporting the UK Youth Parliament and British Youth Council with their campaign. “