Report in the UK: Claims that the history of the British empire is not being widely taught in schools are false

Claims that the history of the British empire is not being widely taught in schools – and when it is that the content is negative and anti-British – are false, according to research.

Some historians and politicians have criticised schools for failing to teach about the empire and in particular the achievements of empire. Among them is the former education secretary, Michael Gove, who once complained that too much history teaching was informed by post-colonial guilt.

But a paper by Prof Terry Haydn of the University of East Anglia found that the study of the British empire was an “integral” part of the national curriculum in England, which stipulates that pupils should be taught about “ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901”.