Britain’s transatlantic enslavement of Africans and much of its imperial past remain non‑statutory elements of the national curriculum in England, leaving teachers to decide whether to include the topic in lessons for pupils aged 11 to 14.
The Current Curriculum Landscape
The key stage 3 programme of study requires pupils to grasp how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world, including a historically grounded understanding of empire. Yet the specific content on the slave trade sits outside the statutory framework, meaning it is treated as optional. In practice, many teachers find that “non‑statutory” quickly becomes “if time allows”, and the subject is often dropped when timetables fill.
Policy Moves and Pressures
In November 2025 the government’s curriculum and assessment review urged clearer definitions of statutory versus non‑statutory content ahead of a new national curriculum slated for spring 2026. The review acknowledged curriculum overload as a reason to loosen compulsory requirements, while pledging to “strengthen” the teaching of the nation’s history and to let teachers reflect Britain’s Black history within it. By contrast, Wales introduced mandatory learning about Black, Asian and minority ethnic histories when its current curriculum launched in 2022, and the Holocaust remains the sole compulsory topic for English pupils in the same age bracket.
Academic and Public Pressure
Recent research initiatives have underscored how deeply slavery shaped Britain’s wealth and institutions. The Register of British Slave Traders, published earlier this year, and the Former British Colonies Enslavement Registers – which made the records of four million enslaved people across twenty former colonies searchable for the first time – have provided fresh evidence. Historians such as Walter Rodney and Howard W. French argue that Africa and its people were central to the making of the modern world, not marginal to it. Meanwhile, the Black Curriculum, founded in 2019, continues to campaign for year‑round inclusion of British Black history in schools.
Political Responses
In 2021 the then schools minister Nick Gibb defended the decision not to make lessons on empire and the slave trade compulsory, a stance that drew criticism from educators and activists. The leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has repeatedly asserted that Britain’s role in ending the slave trade should be the focus of any historical discussion. Critics warn that treating the subject as an optional add‑on risks framing it as a footnote rather than a fundamental part of the national story.
Why it Matters
When the history of enslavement remains optional, pupils receive an incomplete picture of how Britain’s ports, economy and global influence were built. Making this topic statutory would not only honour the millions whose lives were shattered but also equip students with the critical tools to understand present‑day inequalities rooted in imperial exploitation. Without such grounding, the nation’s story stays half‑told, and the chance to learn from the past is lost.
