Political and media literacy

Now Live: The Big Democracy Lesson

Join our new national campaign today and access our free lesson packs for your students (KS3-5) and find out more about our Primary School launch coming soon!

Curriculum and Assessment Review

Active citizenship takes centre stage

Government set to make Citizenship education mandatory in primary schools, with greater emphasis on applied skills such as financial, political, digital, media and legal literacy. Are you ready?

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!

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 Citizens has delivered relevant, inspiring and skills-building citizenship education for nearly 40 years reaching over a million young people to date.  We make it possible for all state schools across the UK to deliver compelling democratic education that brings citizenship to life and empowers  their young people to take part in society.

Through our  transformative programmes and free 100+ easy-to-use lessons, schools can find the citizenship offer that fits their needs.

Explore our resources and programmes for 5 – 18 year olds in state schools & colleges.

Programme Spotlight

Citizenship Workshops

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

Mock Trials

The Mock Trial Competitions are our longest-running active learning experiences. Since 1991, we have provided unparalleled exposure to the...

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. From understanding our courts and human rights to information literacy and navigating the age of AI we bring citizenship to life focusing on skills-building, relevance and interactive lessons and programmes.

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.