Key facts
- Data suggests the British Empire is not widely taught in UK schools.
- The national curriculum, which mentions the empire as optional, is not followed by 85% of secondary schools in England.
- Only 16% of teachers believe Britain's imperial past is taught adequately.
- Optional modules on the British Empire are infrequently chosen by students at GCSE and A-Level.
- The British Mandate in Palestine and its role in the creation of Israel and Palestinian expulsion is not on the British curriculum.
Debate continues in Britain regarding the extent to which the British Empire is taught in schools. While some, like former education secretary Michael Gove and The Spectator writer Max Jeffery, assert that the national curriculum extensively covers the empire, others, including Green Party leader Zack Polanski and historian William Dalrymple, argue it is not adequately taught.
Polanski stated he had no recollection of learning about the empire during his schooling, and Dalrymple noted that while optional modules exist, they are not core curriculum and are rarely taught by teachers who feel ill-equipped. Dalrymple specifically highlighted the lack of curriculum coverage on the British Mandate in Palestine and its role in the events leading to the creation of Israel and the expulsion of Palestinians.
However, Jeffery countered that compulsory history lessons in Years 7-9, for schools following the national curriculum, demand pupils learn about Britain's 'ideas, political power, industry and Empire,' a requirement that has been in place for 13 years. Samuel Rubinstein echoed this, stating the empire has been on the national curriculum for history as long as it has existed.
An analysis of available data, however, suggests the empire is not widely taught in detail. The national curriculum is not followed by academies and free schools, which constitute 85 percent of secondary schools in England, nor by private schools. Within the national curriculum for Key Stages 1, 2, and 3, empire is listed under 'non-statutory examples,' making it optional, unlike the mandated Holocaust topic. Furthermore, only a minority of pupils study history for GCSEs, with just 36 percent of teachers covering the British Empire at this level and 23 percent at A Level. Additionally, only 9.6 percent of GCSE history entries focus on migration or empire.
A major study by researchers at the University of Oxford and University College London found that only 16 percent of teachers believe Britain's imperial past is taught well enough, despite 94 percent of teachers and 79 percent of students agreeing it should be taught. A recent government curriculum review recommended wider teaching of history's diversity but did not specifically mention the empire.
Sociologist Gurminder Bhambra emphasized that Britain's modern history is inseparable from its history of colonisation, impacting its wealth, development, and population. She argued that failing to teach this history properly enables denial of citizenship claims and undermines the basis for such claims.