School history lessons should be overhauled and a British history qualification brought in for 16-year-olds, urges a group of MPs and peers.
School history needs more of a sense of time says a parliamentary committee
The average 13-year-old learns history for just one hour a week, says a report from the all-party parliamentary group.
The government should allow schools in England to replace citizenship classes with history lessons, says the report.
The government said it was looking at history teaching as part of the national curriculum review.
The report, from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on History and Archives, says many schools regard history as too tough for their weaker students and allow them to drop it after two years at secondary school.
It also highlights widespread concerns about the curriculum, in terms both of content and the pace at which it is taught.
“It is very difficult to generate understanding and a sense of chronology in such abbreviated time periods,” says the report.
These views chime with those of Education Secretary Michael Gove who has voiced concerns about the lack of a “connected narrative” in the teaching of British history, with some notable figures such as Winston Churchill, Horatio Nelson and Florence Nightingale not mandatory in the current curriculum.
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