Subject · GCSE
Citizenship Studies
Which schools in England make Citizenship Studies a big part of the curriculum, and where results are strongest. Entries and grades from the 2025 performance tables.
What the data says
Citizenship Studies GCSE was taken in 773 schools in England in 2025, with 19,663 entries — about 3% of the Year 11 cohort.
Nationally 19% of entries achieved grade 7 or above. The tables below show the schools where the largest share of pupils take the subject, and where grades are highest (schools with at least 20 entries).
At Rosedale College (Hillingdon) 100% of the year group took Citizenship Studies.
GCSE: schools with the highest share of grades 7–9
Schools with at least 20 entries. England: 19% of entries graded 7–9. High grades often reflect who is admitted (selective and independent schools) as much as teaching.
What pupils learn in Citizenship Studies, stage by stage
England has no national year-by-year syllabus: exam boards and schools set the order within each stage. These are the statutory blocks from the Department for Education, so a parent can see what a child meets in Years 7–9, what every GCSE candidate must cover, and what waits in the sixth form.
Years 7–9Key Stage 3
not offered as a separate subjectYears 10–11GCSE
68learning outcomes · statutory GCSE subject content; Higher-tier-only outcomes are markedYear 12A level, typically first year
not offered as a separate subjectYear 13A level, second year
not offered as a separate subjectWhat GCSE Citizenship Studies teaches · Years 10–11
68 learning outcomes from the Department for Education’s statutory subject content, grouped by topic. Each outcome belongs to one of twelve fields of knowledge used across startfrom.today: Law & Public Administration (42), Social & Cultural Skills (23), Business & Administration (3). Exam boards add detail on top of these; the outcomes themselves are the same whichever board a school uses.
Democracy, elections and voting in the UK11
- explain the concept of democracy, including representative democracy — democracy, representative democracy
- explain the values underpinning democracy: rights, responsibilities, freedoms and equality — equality, rights, rule of law
- distinguish the roles of the executive, the legislature, the judiciary and the Monarchy — executive, judiciary, legislature, monarchy
- describe the roles of the Commons and the Lords in a bicameral Parliament — bicameral parliament, house of commons, house of lords
- describe the roles of MPs and other parliamentary roles including speaker and whips — mp, speaker, whip
- explain how Parliament holds government to account through oversight and scrutiny — parliamentary oversight, scrutiny
- explain how Parliament debates and shapes public policy and legislation — legislation, parliamentary debate
- explain how citizens contribute to parliamentary democracy and hold power to account — accountability, citizen participation
- compare the key philosophical differences between the major UK political parties — general election, political party
- explain the first-past-the-post electoral system and who can and cannot vote — first-past-the-post, parliamentary constituency, suffrage
- compare first-past-the-post and proportional voting systems — first-past-the-post, proportional representation
National, local, regional and devolved government6
- explain how national governments are formed by a party or coalition after an election — coalition, government formation
- describe the roles of the Prime Minister, Cabinet and ministers — cabinet, minister, prime minister
- describe how government administration is organised into departments and the Civil Service — civil service, government department
- explain the nature and organisation of devolved government in the UK — devolved government
- explain how powers are shared between Westminster and the devolved administrations — devolution, westminster parliament
- describe the role and structure of local government in the UK — local government
British Constitution2
- describe the institutions of the British constitution and the sovereignty of Parliament — british constitution, sovereignty of parliament
- explain how the uncodified British constitution is changing — constitutional change, uncodified constitution
The role of the media and free press4
- explain the role of a free press in informing public opinion and holding power to account — accountability, free press, public opinion
- explain the right of the media to investigate, balanced against privacy and accuracy — accuracy, press freedom, privacy
- explain how press regulation and censorship operate — censorship, press regulation
- explain how groups use the media to influence public opinion and those in power — influence, media, public opinion
Politics beyond the UK1
- compare political participation in a democratic and a non-democratic system outside the UK — democratic system, non-democratic system
Citizen participation in democracy and society5
- evaluate the opportunities and barriers to citizen participation in democracy — barriers to participation, citizen participation
- explain how digital democracy and social media affect voter engagement — digital democracy, social media, voter engagement
- describe forms of democratic action including voting, campaigning, lobbying and petitions — campaigning, lobbying, petition
- describe the roles of pressure groups, trade unions and charities in society — charity, pressure group, trade union
- evaluate an example of citizens working together to change or improve their community — community action, public policy
Rights and responsibilities6
- describe human, moral, legal and political rights and the duties of citizens — duty, human rights, legal rights
- describe the responsibilities of citizens as jurors, magistrates and special constables — juror, magistrate, special constable
- explain the role of trade unions in representing workers — employee representation, trade union
- evaluate how rights and responsibilities are balanced in a situation of conflict — conflict, responsibilities, rights
- explain the role of the Magna Carta in the development of rights — magna carta, rights
- explain the role of the Human Rights Act 1998 and international human rights declarations — human rights act, un universal declaration of human rights
The law5
- explain how laws help society deal with fairness, justice and discrimination — discrimination, fairness, rule of law
- explain the presumption of innocence and equality before the law — equality before the law, presumption of innocence
- distinguish the legal jurisdictions of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland — legal jurisdiction
- distinguish common law from legislation as sources of law — common law, legislation
- distinguish criminal law from civil law — civil law, criminal law
The legal system (England and Wales)6
- describe the roles of the police, judiciary and legal representatives — judiciary, legal representative, police
- distinguish criminal and civil courts and other means of dispute resolution — civil court, criminal court, tribunal
- explain the age of criminal responsibility and other legal ages — age of criminal responsibility
- describe the operation of the youth justice system — youth justice system
- explain the purpose of sentences and punishments for criminal offences — punishment, sentencing
- evaluate strategies to reduce crime rates in society — crime rate, crime reduction strategy
The UK and its relations with the wider world5
- describe the UK's relations with the UN, NATO and the Commonwealth — commonwealth, nato, united nations
- evaluate the ongoing implications of the UK's former membership of the European Union — european union, uk withdrawal
- explain the UK's role and contribution in an international disagreement or conflict — international conflict, mediation, sanctions
- explain the role of international humanitarian law in protecting victims of conflict — conflict, international humanitarian law
- describe the role of non-governmental organisations in international relations — non-governmental organisation
Identities and diversity in UK society4
- explain the factors that shape individual, group, national and global identities — identity, multiple identities
- explain how the four nations of the UK affect debates about identity — identity debate, uk nations
- evaluate the impact of migration on the composition of communities in the UK — community composition, migration
- explain why mutual respect and understanding are needed in a diverse society — diversity, mutual respect
The economy, finance and money3
- explain how public taxes are raised and spent by local and national government — public spending, taxation
- explain how government uses budgeting to manage risk and public funding decisions — budgeting, public funding, risk management
- evaluate different viewpoints on how government funds welfare, health and education — provision, public funding, welfare
Citizenship skills, processes and methods8
- formulate a hypothesis and reach a substantiated conclusion on a citizenship issue — citizenship issue, hypothesis
- evaluate methods used by governments and groups to address a citizenship issue — citizenship issue, citizenship method
- formulate a citizenship enquiry and sequence research questions — citizenship enquiry, research question
- construct a reasoned argument on a citizenship issue, countering opposing viewpoints — argument, citizenship issue, viewpoint
- present own and other viewpoints on a citizenship issue — citizenship issue, viewpoint
- plan a citizenship action to deliver a benefit or change for others — citizenship action, planning
- evaluate the effectiveness of a citizenship action against its intended aims — citizenship action, effectiveness
- connect different citizenship topics to compare similarities and differences — citizenship topics, comparison
Taking citizenship action2
- conduct an in-depth investigation leading to a citizenship action — citizenship action, investigation
- interpret primary and secondary sources of evidence for a citizenship investigation — primary source, secondary source
Source: DfE GCSE citizenship studies subject content (2022), Open Government Licence v3.0. Outcomes are split into single actions and rewritten only where the original bundled several; wording otherwise follows the DfE text. Methodology.