The head of the UK’s Electoral Commission has called for schools to begin teaching children about democracy from the age of 11 in order to ensure they are prepared to vote responsibly when they become eligible at 16.

Vijay Rangarajan, Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission, said that while materials would initially be targeted at students over 14, the most effective way to equip future voters was to begin democratic education earlier in secondary school. This initiative comes as the UK prepares to potentially lower the voting age to 16 in time for the next general election.

The Electoral Commission is currently developing classroom materials to guide schools in teaching democratic participation. Rangarajan stressed that this educational content would be strictly impartial and called on teachers to adopt a similarly neutral stance when delivering it.

“We’re going to need teachers to be really good at leaving their own personal views a bit at the door here,” he said. “And making clear, when they have got personal views, it’s just personal views.”

The plan for early democratic education is partly inspired by lessons learned in Scotland, where 16-year-olds have had the right to vote in local and devolved elections since the 2014 independence referendum. While the move was praised for its ambition, it also exposed a lack of readiness in schools, with many teachers reluctant to engage in politically sensitive topics.

“The main lesson that we took was it was extremely patchy in schools in Scotland, so that’s why we’re working on the education stuff really early on,” Rangarajan explained. “A lot of teachers said ‘We don’t want to engage’ in the run-up to the Scottish referendum, which was really quite sensitive. So teachers need some support.”

The Electoral Commission believes that providing centralised, national teaching resources will reduce the burden on individual educators while also allowing for consistency and neutrality in how democracy is taught.

“You can blame us if parents don’t always like it,” Rangarajan added, noting that teachers often fear backlash from parents concerned about political indoctrination. “It’s essential to get good levels of engagement among young people.”

A recent poll by Teacher Tapp, a platform used to gather data from educators, found that over 80% of teachers do not think the current national curriculum sufficiently prepares students to vote at 16. In addition, around half of 16- and 17-year-olds surveyed said they did not feel well-informed enough to cast a vote.

Rangarajan acknowledged widespread concerns about impartiality in the classroom. Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has previously accused the education system of harbouring what he calls “left-wing prejudice” and being biased against his party. Rangarajan emphasised that transparency and neutrality would be key to ensuring the initiative’s credibility across the political spectrum.

“We can see that quite a few political parties have concerns about partiality,” he said. “So we’re spending a lot of time on how we make sure the material is really impartial.”

In addition to explaining how elections work, the curriculum will cover how to identify misinformation online — a growing issue among young voters who consume the majority of their news via digital platforms.

The education initiative is part of a broader reform agenda to modernise and safeguard the UK’s electoral system. Recently, the government announced proposals to tighten rules on political donations, increase fines for violations, crack down on abuse of candidates, and make progress toward automatic voter registration.

Rangarajan welcomed several of these reforms, particularly new measures aimed at closing loopholes that allow foreign money to enter UK politics. He noted that the Commission has been advocating for these changes since 2013.

However, he also called on the government to reverse changes made under Boris Johnson’s administration that placed the Electoral Commission under greater government oversight, including giving ministers the power to set its policy objectives.

“The point of principle is a government depends on an election to get re-elected,” Rangarajan said. “And it shouldn’t be able to instruct the people who are trying to referee that re-election.”

Efforts to restore the Commission’s full independence may come to a head when the elections legislation reaches the House of Lords, where peers could introduce amendments to protect its autonomy.

Rangarajan also spoke about the urgent need to tackle online abuse in politics, particularly targeting women and ethnic minority candidates. He noted a growing trend of deepfake pornography being used to discredit female politicians, calling the issue “very gendered” and increasingly dangerous.

To address these threats, the Electoral Commission is involved in pilot programs in Scotland, bringing together police, electoral officials, and IT experts to combat the spread of abusive digital content.

Regarding political donations, Rangarajan addressed growing calls to ban cryptocurrency contributions due to traceability issues. He said a complete ban may not be necessary, citing that parties often receive other unusual or hard-to-value contributions such as art, foreign trips, or yacht use.

“Parties get given far more weird things than crypto,” he said, suggesting that the broader issue is the need for transparency and due diligence in all forms of political funding.

The Commission’s work comes at a time of shifting attitudes toward civic participation and growing concerns about voter misinformation, political extremism, and declining public trust in democratic institutions. Rangarajan believes that robust early education and transparent regulation are essential to maintaining the health of UK democracy.

---