PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
First Aid: Curriculum (19 January 2018)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has had discussions with (a) NHS Commissioners, (b) the NHS Ambulance Service, (c) teachers' representatives and (d) parent bodies on the potential merits of teaching first aid as part of the curriculum in schools; and if he will make a statement.

Asked by:
Mr James Frith (Labour)

The Department is currently speaking with a broad range of expert organisations about the potential curriculum content for the new compulsory subjects of relationships education (in primary schools) and relationships and sex education (in secondary schools), and in considering whether to make personal, social, health and economic education compulsory.

As part of this work, the Department has been in contact with teachers' representatives and parents’ bodies. The Department has also engaged with the British Heart Foundation, the British Red Cross and St John Ambulance. Discussions have considered whether first aid should be included.

The evidence the Department gathers from these discussions, along with the call for evidence that was launched in December and closes on 12 February 2018, will support the Government’s decisions on compulsory subject content. The Department will formally consult on the draft regulations and guidance before laying the regulations in the House for debate.

Answered by:
Nick Gibb (Conservative)
30 January 2018