Key Stage 3 citizenship · Democracy and government

KS3 voting and elections in the UK: a guide for parents

In Key Stage 3 citizenship, pupils learn how elections work in the United Kingdom: who can vote, how votes are counted, how a government is formed and why turning out matters. They also practise the skills the subject asks for, such as weighing up evidence, debating and presenting a reasoned argument. Teenagers are only a few years from voting themselves, so it is useful, practical learning.

Voting and elections, explained

In a UK general election the country is divided into 650 areas called constituencies. Voters in each constituency choose one MP to represent them in the House of Commons. Voting is by secret ballot: in a polling station, voters mark a cross next to one candidate on a paper ballot, and nobody can see or demand to know how they voted. People can also apply for a postal vote or ask someone they trust to vote for them as a proxy. To vote, you must be on the electoral register, and at the time of writing voters at a UK general election are asked to show an accepted form of ID at the polling station, such as a passport or driving licence. Voting is a right, not a legal duty, so nobody is fined for staying at home.

The system used for general elections is called first past the post. The candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins, even if they have fewer than half of all the votes cast. The party that wins the most seats across the country usually forms the government, and the leader of that party becomes Prime Minister. A party needs more than half of the 650 seats, that is 326, to have a majority. If no party has one, the result is called a hung Parliament, and parties may work together in a coalition or the largest party may try to govern alone as a minority government. By law, a Parliament can last no more than five years before it ends and a general election follows, although the Prime Minister can ask the King to dissolve Parliament and hold one sooner.

Pupils learn that general elections are not the only elections. People also vote for local councillors, and in some areas for a mayor or a police and crime commissioner. The rules about who can vote can differ between elections and across the nations of the UK: for example, 16 and 17 year olds can vote in Scottish Parliament and Senedd elections and in local council elections in Scotland and Wales. For UK general elections the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 by a law passed in 1969, and the government has announced plans to lower it to 16, so it is worth checking the current rules with your child.

Teachers use these ideas to get pupils thinking, not only remembering. They might run a mock election at school, ask why some people do not vote, or compare what first past the post does well, such as giving a clear winner, with what critics say is unfair. Other voting systems, such as proportional representation, are studied in more detail at GCSE. At this stage the key skills are reading election results, explaining what they mean and giving a reasoned view about whether the system is fair.

Words your child will hear

Constituency: A geographical area represented by one MP, chosen by the people who live there.
Electoral register: The official list of people who are registered and so allowed to vote.
First past the post: A system where the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins, even without a majority.
Majority: More than half. In the Commons, a party with 326 or more of the 650 seats has a majority.
Hung Parliament: An election result where no party wins a majority of seats.
Manifesto: A document in which a party sets out what it promises to do if elected.
Turnout: The percentage of people who were entitled to vote and actually did.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 3 says:

Pupils should be taught about the operation of Parliament, including voting and elections, and the role of political parties
Pupils should use and apply their knowledge and understanding while developing skills to research and interrogate evidence, debate and evaluate viewpoints, present reasoned arguments and take informed action.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: reading a constituency result

In one constituency, 51,000 people voted. Candidate A received 18,200 votes, Candidate B 17,900, Candidate C 9,100, Candidate D 4,300 and Candidate E 1,500. Who wins under first past the post, and what does the result show?

Check the total first. Adding the five results: 18,200 + 17,900 + 9,100 + 4,300 + 1,500 = 51,000. This matches the number of people who voted.
```
18,200 + 17,900 = 36,100
36,100 + 9,100 = 45,200
45,200 + 4,300 = 49,500
49,500 + 1,500 = 51,000
```
Find the winner. First past the post only asks who has the most votes, so Candidate A wins with 18,200 votes.
Work out the majority, the gap between the winner and the runner-up.
```
18,200 − 17,900 = 300
```
Find the winner’s share of the vote. 18,200 out of 51,000 is about 36%, because 18,200 ÷ 51,000 is roughly 0.357.
Work out how many people voted for someone else: 51,000 − 18,200 = 32,800, which is about 64% of the voters, because 32,800 ÷ 51,000 is roughly 0.643.

Candidate A wins with a majority of 300 votes, but with only about 36% of the vote. That means roughly 64% of voters, 32,800 people, voted for other candidates. Supporters of first past the post say it is simple and gives clear results. Critics say that so many votes do not help to elect anyone. A balanced answer gives both views.

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking you vote directly for the Prime Minister

Election coverage focuses on party leaders, so it feels as if the leaders are the ones on the ballot paper.

What helps: Look at a sample ballot paper together: it lists local candidates and their parties. Explain that the leader of the party with a majority in the Commons becomes Prime Minister.

Believing the winner must have more than half of the votes

In a two-person contest a winner always has over half, so pupils expect that rule to apply everywhere.

What helps: Use the worked example. When there are several candidates, the winner only needs more votes than anyone else, so Candidate A wins with about 36%. Nationally, too, a party can win a majority of seats with well under half of all the votes cast.

Mixing up the two meanings of “majority”

The word “majority” has two meanings in elections: the winning margin in one constituency and the overall control of the Commons.

What helps: Ask which one is meant each time. The margin is the difference between the top two candidates, while a government majority means more than half of the 650 seats.

Thinking one vote never matters

With millions of voters, a single vote can seem tiny, so some teenagers decide voting is pointless.

What helps: Use the worked example: if just 151 of Candidate A’s voters had chosen Candidate B instead, B would have won. Talk about how individual votes add up, and how some local council contests have been decided by a handful of votes.

How to help at home

Run a family mock election. Choose a question such as where to go on a day out. Each person writes a manifesto in two sentences, then vote by secret ballot. Count the votes together and discuss whether the winner’s support is wide or narrow.
Read a real result. Look at the result for your own constituency from the last general election. Work out together the majority, the winner’s share of the vote and the turnout, just as in the worked example.
Talk about why people do not vote. Ask your child why some people choose not to vote and what might make it easier. There are no right answers, and listening to their ideas helps them practise the debating skills the curriculum describes.
Spot an election near you. Councils hold elections regularly, and leaflets often arrive through the letterbox. Read one together and ask who wrote it, what it promises and what evidence it offers.

Leads on to

Key Stage 4: The UK constitution
Key Stage 4: Holding power to account
Key Stage 4: Executive, legislature, judiciary
Key Stage 4: The role of a free press
Key Stage 4: Electoral systems
Key Stage 4: Influencing decisions
Key Stage 4: Democracy around the world
Key Stage 4: Non-democratic systems