This House of Lords Library Briefing has been prepared for a debate scheduled to take place in the House of Lords on the following motion moved by the Archbishop of Canterbury that: “this House takes note of the role of education in building a flourishing and skilled society”.
Importance of Education in Building a Flourishing and Skilled Society (641 KB , PDF)
The Archbishop of Canterbury has previously spoken of the importance of educating the ‘whole person’, a concept which is reflected in the Church of England (CofE) vision for education. The CofE vision reflects the wider discourse around the importance of ‘character education’, and the role that plays in preparing children for all aspects of life. The emergence of character education in public policy is based on a growing body of evidence which demonstrates the positive impact in: improved academic attainment; providing the skills desired by employers; and enabling children to make a positive contribution to British society. At the same time there is also a range of evidence to suggest that not enough is being done to promote well-being with a number of reports highlighting the UK’s poor record of mental ill-health in children.
There is no explicit reference to ‘character education’ in statute. However, there is a requirement for the curriculum to at least address the traits which may contribute to the character development of pupils. Under the Education Act 2002 (section 78) maintained schools and maintained nursery schools must promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development. All schools are expected to teach personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, which deals with issues such as drug, financial and health education. Citizenship has been a statutory subject on the curriculum in post-primary schools since 2002. The Secretary for State can now make the teaching of PSHE mandatory under section 35 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017. Under section 34 of this Act, relationship and sex education lessons would also be mandatory. The Government expects to consult on regulations and guidance, with new subjects to be taught in schools from September 2019.
The House of Commons Health and Education committees conducted a joint inquiry into the role of education in improving the mental health of students. The committees found improved wellbeing increased pupils’ capacity to learn, citing evidence that children with higher levels of emotional, behavioural, social and school wellbeing have higher levels of academic achievement on average. This is a finding repeated across a range of studies, some of which are also considered in this Library Briefing.
Importance of Education in Building a Flourishing and Skilled Society (641 KB , PDF)
The bill aims to create a 'smoke-free generation' by banning tobacco sales to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009, alongside other measures to tackle smoking and tobacco harms. It would also further regulate vaping, curbing its appeal to children, while enabling adult smokers to use vapes as a quitting tool. The bill is similar to the Tobacco and Vapes Bill which fell at dissolution 2024.
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is scheduled for second reading in the House of Lords on 1 May 2025. The bill would make a number of changes to children’s social care and schools.
In October 2024, a report from the House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee concluded that poor-quality diets were contributing to an obesity crisis in England. It said that successive governments had failed to tackle the issue, and more regulation was now needed. This briefing summarises the committee’s recommendations, the government’s response in January 2025, and reaction to both reports.
