Reform UK has unveiled education proposals requiring every state school in England to fly the Union Flag and display a portrait of King Charles, while pledging to introduce a “patriotic curriculum” within the first 100 days should it take office.
The policies, announced today, would also mandate that schools in England observe the occasion and give the education secretary powers to intervene where requirements are not met. Funding would be provided for flagpoles where needed. Schools with multiple flagpoles could additionally fly the St George’s Cross emblem.
Under the plans, British history would account for at least 60 per cent of assessed content in the history syllabus.
Compulsory topics would include foundational events and periods such as the Magna Carta, the Wars of the Roses, the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, the Act of Union, the Enlightenment and Victorian Britain.
The party has said teaching on British or European imperialism or slavery must be “paired with the teaching of a non-European occurrence of the same to ensure balance”.
History and social-science curricula likewise would undergo regular review and audit “to ensure balance” and to teach children about their national heritage.
Reform UK has described the approach as presenting “the true story of these isles including all of our successes, failures and turning points”, free from what it calls a “progressive lens” or “modern narratives”.
The party said schools in the UK currently are teaching children “to be ashamed” of Britain’s past and did not teach about Britons who fought for freedom.
It highlighted a survey by Policy Exchange that found only 20 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds have a positive view of World War Two prime minister Winston Churchill and also showed that only 41 per cent of 18 to 27-year-olds – Gen Z – said they were proud to British.
Suella Braverman, Reform UK’s spokeswoman on education, skills and equalities, said during the presentation of the plans today on Saint George’s Day: “Previous governments had allowed a curriculum that undermines national identity.” She has pledged a “patriotic, balanced curriculum that fosters a love of this great country”.
“Tory [Conservative] and Labour governments have failed a generation of young people with a substandard curriculum that undermines academic rigour and national identity in favour of promoting their mass migration agenda,” Braverman said.
“Reform will end this. As education secretary I will introduce a new curriculum that will rekindle national pride and ensure that every child leaves school with an understanding of what a privilege it is to be British.”
She also said: “Six in 10 young women now believe Britain is a racist country. Half of young people don’t know what Magna Carta is. Barely one in 10 say they would fight for this country.
“That is not just ignorance; it is a failure of education because Britain’s story is one of the greatest ever told.”
The measures build on policies first outlined in the party’s 2024 general-election document, Our Contract with You, and have been reiterated in recent announcements under leader Nigel Farage.
Reform UK noted that, following a previous government offer of free royal portraits to state schools, uptake stood at only around 34 per cent. The party has said it would seek to apply similar policies in Scotland and Wales should it gain power there, although education is devolved in both nations.
There have been numerous controversies about progressive ideology taking over UK schools. Daily The Telegraph highlighted on. April 5 that schoolchildren were taught that Joan of Arc was non-binary, that black people built Stonehenge and that the history curriculum was being “decolonised”.
Earlier, in light of Saint George’s Day, Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned “plastic patriotism that corrodes the very bonds that tie us together” and said he would challenge those who “try to hijack our flag to spread hate”.
