Member News
By Chris Skidmore MP - 10th January 2012
Chris Skidmore MP warns that history seems to be at risk of becoming "a dead subject" in schools across the country.
Should the study of history be compulsory in schools until 16? That is the question MPs will be debating in a debate I have called in Westminster Hall on the teaching of history in schools. Compared to other countries, our decision to allow pupils to drop history at 14 is an unusual one: we are the only European nation apart from Albania which allows students to do so. In consequence, the number of pupils studying history beyond 14 has dropped below 30 per cent for the first time last year.
But the situation is far worse than this. In December, I published a report, History In Schools – A School Report, which revealed that history seems to be at risk of becoming a dead subject in schools across the country. In 158 schools, not a single pupil was even entered for GCSE history, while in 77 local authorities, fewer than one in five pupils passed the subject. In Knowsley it was eight per cent, with only four pupils going on to pass A-level history. Unsurprisingly, it is the most deprived areas of the country which seem to be affected, with eight per cent of pupils eligible for Free School Meals passing history. A subject which should unite us as one nation is increasingly becoming the subject choice of two nations, divided by background.
Frequently, debates around history teaching revolve around what history should be taught, whose history, whether the subject should be taught through a framework of facts and dates, through narrative or interpretative sources, what kind of assessment process there should be and what should an exam focus upon, whether the focus should be national, international, local or global. These issues are, of course, relevant – and I hope to raise them during the debate – but let them come second to the central argument that we should all agree why history should be taught. We cannot opt-out of history: the past is a compulsory part of our shared knowledge and culture, forming our national identity. To continue down the road of its slow eradication in schools is to risk losing this common identity for future generations.
As a historian and a former history tutor at university, and vice-chair of the all-party group on history and archives, this is a subject close to my heart. There are also many other MPs who come from history backgrounds: Tristram Hunt, Greg McClymont, Ben Gummer, Gordon Marsden, David Lidington, Kwasi Kwarteng and Andrew Percy immediately come to mind, but other Members have expressed to me their keen interest in the subject. I hope that this debate will offer all MPs interested in the subject the chance to debate and discuss history’s role in the future of the school curriculum.
Chris Skidmorehas been Conservative MP for Kingswood since 2010.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd