Only 11 percent of UK secondary schools include those battles in the curriculum for students aged 11 to 14. Trafalgar marked the Royal Navy’s defeat of the French and Spanish fleets and solidified Britain’s naval dominance, while Waterloo ended the Napoleonic Wars.
By contrast, nearly all schools are teaching about events like the transatlantic slave trade and the Norman conquest of England, according to a report from Policy Exchange, reports the Daily Mail.
The data shows that schools have “diversified” their syllabi after the Conservative government encouraged the inclusion of “cultural change” in the curriculum. Popular topics include "Britain in WWI," "The Abolition of Slavery," "The Industrial Revolution," and "British Colonization."
Some, like Real Education campaign chair Chris McGovern, argue that the curriculum is being used to erode national pride.
“It is clear that the subject has been captured by the Left,” McGovern said. He added that the shift appears intended to help destroy “British national identity.”
Former Secretary of State for Education Nadhim Zahawi praised the Policy Exchange report.
“This thorough report from Policy Exchange demonstrates how much progress has been made over the last fifteen years, with increasing numbers of students receiving a knowledge-rich, chronological history education during Key Stage Three,” Zahawi said.
“It was heartening to see that core topics such as Magna Carta, the Reformation, the Industrial Revolution, the slave trade and its abolition, and Britain's roles in the World Wars are each taught in over 85% of schools.
“Though disappointing that inspiring events in English history such as the Battles of Agincourt, Trafalgar, and Waterloo appear to have dropped off the curriculum.”
Policy Exchange said that a new British history survey from 1066 (the battle of Hastings) to 1989 (the end of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s time in office) replace the current exams.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education told the Mail: "High and rising standards are at the heart of the government's mission to break down the barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start."
"The independent, expert-led Curriculum and Assessment review is considering how to ensure young people have access to a broad and balanced curriculum that ensures young people leave school ready for work and ready for life."
In all, the report reveals:
- 85% of all schools surveyed teach key events in British history such as the Norman Conquest, Magna Carta, the Reformation, Industrial Revolution and the World Wars.
- 99% of surveyed schools teach the slave trade and 89% teach the British Empire – but less than one in five schools teach the Battles of Agincourt, Waterloo and Trafalgar.
- On average schools teach 1 hour and 47 minutes of history a week – but those that offer a 2 year KS3 teach 64 fewer hours than those where KS3 lasts 3 years. Children on free school meals on average receive more history teaching than their peers.
- The curriculum at GCSE and A Level is too narrow and repetitive, with students studying narrow thematic studies like health through time and repeating the Tudors and Nazi Germany at the expense of broader topics.
- 83% of surveyed schools have "diversified" or "decolonised" their curriculums. This is driven by teacher training courses, 76% of whom run sessions teaching trainees on diversifying history in the classroom.
