education

Question Time for Women’s History Month

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Time: 1400-1445
Date: Wednesday 25 March 2026
Location: Online via YouTube
Cost: Free
Audience: Young people aged 14-18, schools, colleges, home educators
Host: UK Parliament Education and Engagement Team

What is Question Time for Women’s History Month? 

An online engagement event for students aged 14 to 18, to mark Women’s History Month.   

We will be joined by Historian of UK Parliament, Dr Mari Takayanagi, who will share a brief history of women in the House of Lords. Using real parliamentary artefacts, Mari will reflect on the vital contributions that women, past and present, have made to the work of the House.

We will then be joined by The Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishop Rachel) and Baroness Boycott.

Both Peers represent groups that are unique to the House of Lords, Bishops and Crossbenchers, and both are also trailblazing women within their professions.

Both will share their experiences by answering your questions!

Find out more, and register to attend here.

Booking for 2026 summer term educational visits

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Bookings for Summer Term (April to July 2026) open at 10am on 28 January.

Get ready to book your Summer Term (April to July 2026) visit. Register on the booking portal to view available slots and book your Summer Term visit when Summer Term bookings open. All schools wanting to book a school visit will need to have a user account set up in the online booking portal.  Schools should register their account now so they’re ready when bookings go live, with no further action needed until January. Account verification can take up to five working days, so setting up early avoids delays. Register your account here.

Your visit includes:

  • A curricula-informed workshop in our Education Centre
  • A guided tour of the iconic Palace of Westminster

Schools outside London and the South East may be eligible for help with travel costs.

Changes to Member-sponsored ‘Inside UK Parliament’ tours

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Following decisions from the Administration Committee, Lords Services Committee and House of Commons Commission, two changes to how these tours are booked and delivered will come into effect from 2 January 2026. These changes are intended to provide a simplified, more flexible system for schools and constituents. 

Read about the changes here on Parlinet – Changes to Member-sponsored ‘Inside UK Parliament’ tours

Volunteers wanted to pilot constituency engagement tracking tool

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Members’ staff wanted to test the Participation Services Dashboard.

The Participation team is looking for Members’ staff to take part in a pilot study testing the Participation Services Dashboard, a tool to give you quick and easy insights into how your constituents are engaging with services offered by the Participation team. This includes their involvement in education programmes, tours of Parliament and sign-ups for UK Parliament Week.

Volunteers would need to attend three 30-minute online meetings from early June to mid-July – a range of times will be offered to best fit your diary.

For more information or to register your interest, please visit Parlinet or email participationdashboardenquiries@parliament.uk

Free summer term school visits

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From 23 January schools can apply online for a free school visit to UK Parliament

From 10am on Thursday 23 January, schools in each constituency will be able to request a free school visit to UK Parliament this Summer Term (April to July).  Eligible schools visiting from outside London and the South East of England could claim up to 85% (up to £2,400) of their receipted travel costs back with our travel subsidy.

Each term, the Education Centre has a very high number of applications from schools. We try to ensure as many schools as possible can visit us, but with over 33,000 schools across the UK and around 1,000 slots available, demand outweighs capacity. To ensure fair access, we will be processing applications on a first come, first served basis and a queue management system will be in place on the day.

For full details, please see here: ParliNet | Free summer term school visits

Applications for a free school visit to UK Parliament open at 10am today (18 September)

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From 10am today (18 September) you can apply for a free school visit to UK Parliament in Spring Term. Applications will be via a digital form available on the Parliament Education website until 23 September at 4pm.

Get ready:  

  • Check if you are eligible for a travel subsidy.
    • Schools in band B can claim up to 60% of receipted travel costs, up to a maximum claim of £1,200
    • Schools in band C can claim up to 85% of receipted travel costs, up to a maximum claim of £2,400
  • Make sure you have at least 15 minutes set aside to complete the form.
  • Gather your key information:
    • Contact details of your school/group and main point of contact  
    • Preferred date for your visit
    • Expected numbers of students and adults. Our tours and workshops have a capacity of 36 visitors, including adults. The minimum ratio of adults to pupils depends on students’ age: Age 5-7: 1 adult to 7 pupils | Age 7-18: 1 adult to 15 pupils

Applications are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to high demand, an automated queuing system will be in place to ensure fair access on the day.

Submitting an application form does not guarantee your visit. Please do not book any travel until you receive a booking confirmation from from the Parliamentary Education Service.

UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador Programme 1-3 July 2024

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The Education and Engagement Service (EES) will be hosting its next residential UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador Programme 1-3 July 2024.

This programme offers a unique three-day course where teachers get to experience the workings of Parliament first-hand before returning to their classrooms to build their students’ understanding and increase their engagement with UK Parliament.

The EES will cover the cost of transport, accommodation, and most meals for teachers taking part and we welcome applications from teachers, school/college leaders and teacher training providers working with young people aged 5-18.

Throughout the three days, the teachers will get to experience:

• Q&A sessions with the Speaker, Lord Speaker, and Members of both Houses
• Talks from subject specialists
• Workshops devoted to key aspects of the work of UK Parliament
• Opportunities to explore new and exciting teaching ideas
• Tours of the Palace of Westminster and the Parliamentary Education Centre

In 2023, 100% of the teachers who attended rated the course as excellent, and 100% of the teachers left saying they felt confident teaching about UK Parliament as a result of the programme. One attendee shared: “It has been the most amazing course I’ve been on. I’ve found it has really fired my passion again. It has given me real and practical ideas I can take back to school.”

All interested educators, schools, colleges and teachers of all phases and school/college leaders are encouraged to apply.

Application forms are available online at UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador Programme and the closing date is Sunday 24 March 2024.

Please note that the course is often over-subscribed so teachers will be accepted based on their answers to the application questions.

If you or teachers in your constituency would like more information, please contact us at teachertraining@parliament.uk

Disability History Month

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Disability History Month takes place from 16 November to 16 December 2023. You can read more about it here: https://ukdhm.org/

The Parliamentary Education Unit has several resources for teachers:

Life Peers’ Stories: A Conversation with Baroness Grey-Thompson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIvH2SsCboU

Disability History Month illustrated book – a free eBook: https://learning.parliament.uk/en/resources/disability-illustrated-book/

Disability History Booklet: https://assets-learning.parliament.uk/uploads/2020/11/Disability-History-Month-booklet.pdf

Learning about disability legislation: https://learning.parliament.uk/en/resources/your-story-our-history-accessibility-legislation/

Glossary of Parliamentary Terms

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What is a division? Where is the Lobby? What is the difference between a PPS, a PPC, an APPG and a POPTART? And, the greatest mystery of them all, just what exactly are the Lords doing when they are “at pleasure”?

One of the most overwhelming difficulties of starting a job in parliament can be coming to terms with the language, which quite often might as well be Swahili for a newcomer.

In an attempt to help the public connect with parliament, the Modernisation Committee made some changes to the language and procedures used around the place. For example, the procedure whereby Members wishing to raise a point of order used to have to wear a special hat, like a pirate, was abolished in 1998 to the dismay of the more fashionably (and piratically ) minded MPs of the time.

Similarly, ‘I spy strangers’ (formerly used to request that the House sit in private), ‘strangers’ being members of the public, was abolished in and replaced with the rather less romantic request that the ‘House sit in private’.

While there may be a certain smugness which emanates from being able to understand such obscurities, many feel that the use of such language further turns off an already disengaged public. Others argue it creates a sense of occasion and tradition and helps maintain dignified discussion.

The BBC also has a very good jargon-buster, called the A-Z of Parliament.

Parliament’s Education Service works with schools to support young people’s understanding of Parliament and democracy; they are here: https://learning.parliament.uk/en/

 

ES March 2013