The law is a vital part of our democratic society, but we know it isn’t always easy to teach.
That is why Young Citizens created The Big Legal Lesson™. Each year, the campaign’s free resource packs offer an inspiring, interactive set of assemblies and lessons – free to use for all schools.
“It really got the children thinking about their place in society”
Primary teacher, The Big Legal Lesson 2024
What is The Big Legal Lesson?
We want every young person to learn about their rights and responsibilities, rule of law and the justice system as a part of a UK education. From primary school pupils to post-16 students, The Big Legal Lesson provides teachers with the tools they need to confidently introduce the law into their classrooms.
Since 2020, thousands of schools have taken part, reaching over 300,000 young people. This makes it the largest public legal education campaign of its kind.
Last year, 93% of teachers agreed that taking part in The Big Legal Lesson gave their class a better understanding of the rule of law and how it applies to their lives. 100% of teachers said they’d recommend it to a colleague.
- Working with pupils aged 5-11? Download the free primary resource pack here.
- Working with pupils aged 11-18? Download the free secondary resource pack here.
- Are you a legal professional looking for a pro bono opportunity? Visit our volunteer page.
“The resources are up to date and informative, and they save so much time for teachers in planning and preparing”
Secondary teacher, The Big Legal Lesson 2024
What’s in the pack?
From Key Stage 1 to Sixth-Form, we have resources suitable for all teachers. Each age group has tailored:
- Launch assemblies
- 15-minute legal taster activity exploring how we all interact with the law every single day
- Lesson plan exploring What is the law? and Who has the power to change the law?
- Lesson plan with real-world examples of recent changes to a range of laws may impact the lives of you and your students
What is special about Young Citizens learning packs?
All of our free materials work to make citizenship education more inspiring and accessible by being:
- Relevant: youth and community anchored learning, like current case-studies, so students can see how these systems, structures and roles link to their everyday life.
- Interactive: skills-building activities to apply what they learn, developing skills from oracy to advocacy, to understanding different view points, team building and critical analysis of societal issues.
- Approachable: education materials and programmes are built to bring citizenship learning into your schools whether that is through formal citizenship lessons, or wider personal development aims, SMSC and broader subjects.
- Institution-linked: we help pupils understand the role of democratic institutions and linked systems working directly with experts to design case studies and activities, from lawyers to economists to journalists.
Download primary resource pack (ages 5-11)
Download secondary resource pack (ages 11-18)
Are you a legal professional looking for a pro bono opportunity? Visit our volunteer page.
Stay in touch with us on Instagram @youngcitizensuk using #TheBigLegalLesson.
See more of our Legal Education programmes here, or explore our free lesson packs on citizenship here.
Our Sponsors
Our thanks to Mishcon de Reya for being our national sponsor again in 2024, helping us keep The Big Legal Lesson free to state schools.
Further thanks to our education partner The Law Society for their continued support in helping us deliver legal education resources for young people across the UK, for over 35 years.
