Department for Education

The Department for Education is responsible for children’s services and education, including early years, schools, higher and further education policy, apprenticeships and wider skills in England. DfE is a ministerial department, supported by 17 agencies and public bodies.

Website

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education

Ministers

• The Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP
  Secretary of State for Education
• The Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP
  Minister of State (Minister of State for Schools)
• The Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP
  Minister of State (Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education)
• Claire Coutinho MP
  Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing)
• Baroness Barran MBE
  Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for the School System and Student Finance)

Petitions linked to this department

Sorted by date, most recent first

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• Review the SEND Tribunal so special schools can refuse placements
  Opened on Monday 7th July 2025
  94 signatures so far

• Make Play and Continuous Provision statutory in England's Key Stage 1 Curriculum
  Opened on Thursday 3rd July 2025
  52,993 signatures so far

• Fund more financial support for legal guardians of children and young people
  Opened on Thursday 3rd July 2025
  61 signatures so far

• Replace GCSE and A-Level memory-based exams with open-book formats
  Opened on Wednesday 2nd July 2025
  49 signatures so far

• Exempt students with learning disabilities from VAT on private school fees
  Opened on Wednesday 2nd July 2025
  27 signatures so far

• Ban ultra-processed (NOVA 4) foods from all school meals
  Opened on Wednesday 2nd July 2025
  32 signatures so far

• Fund Rent payments for Working Care Leavers in Supported Accommodation
  Opened on Tuesday 1st July 2025
  54 signatures so far

• Require schools to use world maps that reflect a country/continents true size
  Opened on Tuesday 1st July 2025
  21 signatures so far

• Fund/establish free virtual school for those unable to attend mainstream school
  Opened on Tuesday 1st July 2025
  14 signatures so far

• Reinstate funding for all Level 7 solicitor apprenticeships
  Opened on Tuesday 1st July 2025
  8 signatures so far

• Full public funding for Level 7 Apprenticeships for people aged 22+
  Opened on Tuesday 1st July 2025
  8 signatures so far

• Require neurodiversity education for children in schools
  Opened on Monday 30th June 2025
  262 signatures so far

• Introduce a ‘School Allergy Safety Bill’ to Protect School Pupils with Allergies
  Opened on Monday 30th June 2025
  9,198 signatures so far

• Require schools to notify parents if a pupil is distressed by results feedback
  Opened on Friday 27th June 2025
  753 signatures so far

• Issue new guidance on teachers’ early retirement rights
  Opened on Thursday 26th June 2025
  2,743 signatures so far

• councils and landlords to provide stable, fair housing for people in recovery.

• Scrap RPI +3% interest on plan 2 & postgrad student loans & charge RPI only
  Opened on Friday 20th June 2025
  29 signatures so far

• Allow parents to take their children out of school for 5 school days in a year
  Opened on Monday 16th June 2025
  338 signatures so far

• Issue guidance so schools cannot give homework overnight
  Opened on Monday 16th June 2025
  45 signatures so far

• Make GCSE study leave a requirement in state schools in England
  Opened on Monday 16th June 2025
  13 signatures so far

• Hold a UK-wide review of student loans
  Opened on Friday 13th June 2025
  26 signatures so far

• Fund more support for children with SEN & allow term-time holidays
  Opened on Friday 13th June 2025
  62 signatures so far

• Review extra time practices in secondary schools for GCSE and A levels
  Opened on Thursday 12th June 2025
  29 signatures so far

• Expand menstrual health education & early screening for conditions
  Opened on Wednesday 11th June 2025
  90 signatures so far

• Update school uniform guidance to prioritise comfort for students in England
  Opened on Monday 9th June 2025
  220 signatures so far

• Reform SEND Education: Implement a Needs-Based Tiered School System in England
  Opened on Monday 9th June 2025
  114 signatures so far

• Raise the age of compulsory education in England to Six & reform Early Education
  Opened on Friday 6th June 2025
  674 signatures so far

• Require schools to allow students refill water bottles and use the toilet
  Opened on Thursday 5th June 2025
  65 signatures so far

• Reduce the school week to four days a week
  Opened on Wednesday 4th June 2025
  31 signatures so far

• Stop fines for taking children out of school on holiday
  Opened on Wednesday 4th June 2025
  291 signatures so far

• Ensure GCSE students have access to formulae and equation sheets post 2027
  Opened on Tuesday 3rd June 2025
  34 signatures so far

• Amend Law so Definitions of Man & Woman Include Transgender and Intersex People
  Opened on Monday 2nd June 2025
  346 signatures so far

• Review Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill’s impact on non-school settings
  Opened on Friday 30th May 2025
  240 signatures so far

• Reform Child Maintenance – require parental mediation and proof of care
  Opened on Thursday 29th May 2025
  19 signatures so far

• Review & modernise the GCSE curriculum to teach life skills & support students
  Opened on Wednesday 28th May 2025
  37 signatures so far

• Allow BNO students in the process of getting ILR to apply as home students
  Opened on Friday 23rd May 2025
  112 signatures so far

• Reverse the changes to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund
  Opened on Friday 23rd May 2025
  60 signatures so far

• Require local authorities to support estranged adults up to age 25
  Opened on Friday 23rd May 2025
  50 signatures so far

• Review Primary Curriculum to ensure alignment with Children’s Developmental Need
  Opened on Thursday 22nd May 2025
  262 signatures so far

• Make Nakba education part of the national curriculum
  Opened on Tuesday 20th May 2025
  257 signatures so far

• Raise the maximum age a child can be for parents to claim learning allowance
  Opened on Monday 19th May 2025
  32 signatures so far

• Fund childminders to access publicly funded courses beyond level 3
  Opened on Monday 19th May 2025
  12 signatures so far

• Increase funding for EHCPs to help address funding gaps in schools
  Opened on Friday 16th May 2025
  444 signatures so far

• Review the primary school curriculum to prepare children for secondary school
  Opened on Thursday 15th May 2025
  22 signatures so far

• Require Universities in England to hold mandatory workshops on consent
  Opened on Wednesday 14th May 2025
  40 signatures so far

• Raise income threshold for free school meals to reflect cost of living crisis
  Opened on Tuesday 13th May 2025
  26 signatures so far

• Require time & space for Muslim children to pray at school & education
  Opened on Tuesday 13th May 2025
  200 signatures so far

• Review SWE processes & the Fitness to Practice guidance
  Opened on Friday 9th May 2025
  421 signatures so far

• Enable Ukrainian students to take their GCSEs in Ukrainian
  Opened on Friday 9th May 2025
  22 signatures so far

• Fund fire safety sessions to educate young people and prevent wildfires
  Opened on Thursday 8th May 2025
  42 signatures so far

• Reform curriculum to prioritise more outdoor learning/the outdoor environment
  Opened on Wednesday 7th May 2025
  48 signatures so far

• Add military preparation and cadet training into the national curriculum
  Opened on Wednesday 7th May 2025
  85 signatures so far

• Fair funding for Early Years Care: To allow quality, training, and transparency
  Opened on Wednesday 7th May 2025
  1,417 signatures so far

• Review GCSE balance of coursework and exams
  Opened on Tuesday 6th May 2025
  64 signatures so far

• Require all schools to let pupils wear their own clothes on Monday and Friday
  Opened on Tuesday 6th May 2025
  15 signatures so far

• Base childcare support for working parents on household income
  Opened on Friday 2nd May 2025
  63 signatures so far

• Fund the creation of more SEN schools
  Opened on Thursday 1st May 2025
  213 signatures so far

• Provide funding to develop a national programme for SEN children during holiday
  Opened on Thursday 1st May 2025
  480 signatures so far

• Introduce the history of trains and railways to the National Curriculum
  Opened on Wednesday 30th April 2025
  31 signatures so far

• Require schools to ban students use of smartphones during school hours
  Opened on Wednesday 30th April 2025
  340 signatures so far

• Make reading a separate subject on the national curriculum
  Opened on Wednesday 30th April 2025
  15 signatures so far

• Introduce mandatory anti-bullying programmes in schools
  Opened on Tuesday 29th April 2025
  116 signatures so far

• Make neurodiversity training mandatory for all education staff
  Opened on Tuesday 29th April 2025
  21,101 signatures so far

• Review attendance rules in schools to support children with health requirements
  Opened on Tuesday 29th April 2025
  51 signatures so far

• Refund student loans for students who studied during the Covid pandemic
  Opened on Tuesday 29th April 2025
  28 signatures so far

• Penalties for Local Authorities if their EHCP decision is overturned at Tribunal
  Opened on Friday 25th April 2025
  3,413 signatures so far

• Withdraw the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill
  Opened on Friday 25th April 2025
  5,559 signatures so far

• Add animal care to the national curriculum
  Opened on Friday 25th April 2025
  40 signatures so far

• Require CCTV in all nursery & child-minding settings
  Opened on Wednesday 23rd April 2025
  238 signatures so far

• Review Social Work England’s Regulatory Practices and Renewal Fee Spending
  Opened on Tuesday 22nd April 2025
  888 signatures so far

• Give students a legal right to access school toilets when they have their period
  Opened on Thursday 17th April 2025
  468 signatures so far

• Add more life skills to the national curriculum for secondary education
  Opened on Thursday 17th April 2025
  49 signatures so far

• Require schools to display school meal nutritional information
  Opened on Wednesday 16th April 2025
  32 signatures so far

• Increase funding for schools and colleges
  Opened on Tuesday 15th April 2025
  84 signatures so far

• Put the dangers of methanol poisoning on the school curriculum
  Opened on Tuesday 15th April 2025
  11,998 signatures so far

• Full funding for tuition fees for disabled adults who want to return to college
  Opened on Monday 14th April 2025
  40 signatures so far

• Ban schools from suspending pupils under the age of 7
  Opened on Wednesday 9th April 2025
  33 signatures so far

• Amend the guidance on developing school uniform policy: require practicality
  Opened on Wednesday 9th April 2025
  57 signatures so far

• Make Breathwork and Emotional Wellbeing Part of the National Curriculum
  Opened on Tuesday 8th April 2025
  32 signatures so far

• Strengthen Safeguards related to Child Removal by Social Services
  Opened on Tuesday 8th April 2025
  39 signatures so far

• Introduce a minimum trainee teacher wage equivalent to Teaching Assistant salary
  Opened on Tuesday 8th April 2025
  541 signatures so far

• Remove parents’ right to withdraw secondary school students from sex education
  Opened on Monday 7th April 2025
  52 signatures so far

• Nationalise GCSE and A-Level exam boards.
  Opened on Monday 7th April 2025
  29 signatures so far

• Require schools to teach about organised crime & increase police funding
  Opened on Thursday 3rd April 2025
  19 signatures so far

• Review safeguarding of disabled children in schools and accessibility
  Opened on Thursday 3rd April 2025
  45 signatures so far

• Justice for ESN Survivors: apologise and fund financial compensation
  Opened on Tuesday 1st April 2025
  473 signatures so far

• Increase investment in Higher Education
  Opened on Tuesday 1st April 2025
  69 signatures so far

• Require schools to notify parents with PR of welfare concerns about their child
  Opened on Tuesday 1st April 2025
  56 signatures so far

• Remove CWS Bill clauses and provide tangible support to home educating parents
  Opened on Tuesday 1st April 2025
  30,174 signatures so far

• Change the mathematics curriculum to be more relevant to real life
  Opened on Monday 31st March 2025
  32 signatures so far

• Increase Funding for Mental Health Services in Schools for Students’ Well-being
  Opened on Monday 31st March 2025
  260 signatures so far

• Replace RE with 'Equality and acceptance' in the national curriculum
  Opened on Friday 28th March 2025
  28 signatures so far

• Ban state schools from making Religious Studies a mandatory GCSE subject
  Opened on Friday 28th March 2025
  32 signatures so far

• Review the curriculum to prioritise practical skills
  Opened on Thursday 27th March 2025
  25 signatures so far

• Provide urgent ring-fenced funding for counsellors in every school in England
  Opened on Wednesday 26th March 2025
  823 signatures so far

• Include more sports options for GCSE PE
  Opened on Wednesday 26th March 2025
  1,193 signatures so far

• Ban schools from implementing policies relating to appearance except clothing
  Opened on Tuesday 25th March 2025
  112 signatures so far

• Require daily sports in schools and increase school sports funding
  Opened on Tuesday 25th March 2025
  435 signatures so far

• Require CCTV cameras in all SEN schools and settings such as transport
  Opened on Tuesday 25th March 2025
  329 signatures so far

• Stop Religious Education (RE) being compulsory in English schools from Year 10
  Opened on Monday 24th March 2025
  36 signatures so far

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