The recent announcement that young people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will have the opportunity to take a new GCSE in natural history from September 2025, driven by a campaign led by naturalist Mary Colwell, is welcome news. The new qualification will include practical skills to pursue a career in the natural world, including observation, monitoring, recording and analysis. It will also include immersion in outdoor activities, and has support from the Natural History Museum, the Field Studies Council and the Wildlife Trusts. However, while this will go some way to further bring sustainability and climate concerns into schools, the qualification is optional. It compartmentalises a subject that needs to be woven across the curriculum , so that every child is equipped to deal with the challenges we face and can appreciate that it impinges on every aspect of life. In England, the whole national curriculum is under review. This provides a crucial opportunity to embed climate change and sustainability education throughout the curriculum. The independent review’s recent interim report identifies a need for a “greater focus on sustainability and climate science”. It makes welcome reference to the need for the curriculum to keep pace with rapid social, environmental and technological change, and to equip young people to deal with future challenges. This is in line with the findings of my research, with colleagues . We explored young people’s views of climate change education in secondary schools, carrying out a national survey of 1,000 14- to 18-year-olds and two follow-up in-depth workshops. We found that young people consistently identified climate change as the top concern for their future lives, putting it above the cost of living crisis and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. Seven in ten teenagers told us they would welcome the opportunity to learn more […]