Reform UK has unveiled a series of education policies, including mandatory displays of the King's portrait and the union flag in every school, alongside the introduction of 'patriotic' history lessons. The party, which announced the proposals ahead of St George's Day, stated these measures aim to restore 'national pride' within the curriculum.
They criticised the current approach to history, describing it as being taught through 'a progressive lens.' Should they form a government, Reform UK pledged to implement a new curriculum within their first 100 days. They argued that the subject should reflect a 'patriotic history of the British Isles' and avoid being framed by 'modern narratives.'
Reform wants pupils in England to cover events such as the Magna Carta, the Wars of the Roses, the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, the Act of Union, the Enlightenment and Victorian Britain. These are all topics which fall within time periods covered already in GCSE history by exam boards across England.
British history would form a minimum of 60 per cent of the subject’s assessed content, with the Secretary of State for Education being given powers to intervene 'where this is not followed,' the party said. Reform UK’s would-be education secretary, Suella Braverman, said: 'Tory and Labour governments have failed a generation of young people with a substandard curriculum that undermines academic rigour and national identity in favour of promoting their mass migration agenda.'
The party has also indicated that every school will be required to fly the union flag, honour St George’s Day in England and mount a visible portrait of King Charles in a communal space. They also indicated that funding would be provided for Scottish and Welsh schools to fly the union flag along with their national flags but acknowledged that education is a devolved area of government.
