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Written question asked by Patrick Hurley (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 July 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 16 July 2026. It was answered by Georgia Gould (Labour) on Wednesday, 22 July 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Schools: Conspiracy and Disinformation

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to tackle online conspiracy belief, misinformation and disinformation in the classroom.

Answer

The department will strengthen media literacy education and skills for young people to critically engage with and assess information from a range of sources in the national curriculum, following the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report. This will help pupils learn how to spot misinformation and disinformation, including AI-generated content, and to develop critical thinking skills.

The department is engaging with sector experts to determine how to reflect this in the updated curriculum and training requirements for teachers. Following public consultation from September, the new curriculum will be taught from September 2028.

Updated relationships, sex and health education guidance, to be implemented from September 2026, includes strengthened content on staying safe online and online wellbeing. Secondary pupils will learn how advertising and information is targeted at them and how to be a discerning consumer of information online, understanding the prevalence of misinformation and disinformation online, including conspiracy theories.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
18756
Session
2026-27
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Staff Conspiracy Schools Disinformation
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk