Legal Education

Our key calls for change:

• Integrate Legal Education into the Curriculum – Mandate age-appropriate, progressive legal education from primary to secondary level as part of the Curriculum for Wales.
• Invest in Educator Training and Resources – Provide targeted CPD on legal literacy and rights-based teaching, supported by high-quality, Welsh-specific materials.

Legal education for children and young people in Wales is a vital yet underdeveloped part of civic learning. It equips young people with the knowledge, values, and skills needed to understand their rights and responsibilities and to engage meaningfully with legal systems that affect their everyday lives.

More than just understanding laws, legal education empowers young people to participate in democratic society, navigate justice systems, and protect their rights. The need for this was clearly voiced in Our Rights, Our Story (Funky Dragon, 2008), where over 12,000 children and young people called for schools to provide stronger legal and rights education.

In Wales’ devolved context—where law increasingly diverges from that of England, particularly in areas such as health, education, and housing—legal literacy is critical for access to justice and democratic accountability.

Despite growing recognition of its importance, Public Legal Education (PLE) in Wales remains fragmented and inconsistent. The 2018 paper The Desert (Williams & Bussicott) described Wales as a “PLE desert,” highlighting systemic gaps in access, coordination, and resources. Provision is often ad hoc, heavily reliant on police-led sessions, and lacks integration within the national curriculum.

A 2024 study from Cardiff University reinforced these concerns, noting that fewer than half of primary schools deliver any legal content. Where it is present, it is usually through SchoolBeat Cymru—now decommissioned by Welsh Government—and tends to focus on behaviour management rather than legal rights or justice processes. There are also clear gaps in teacher confidence and legal knowledge.

Despite these challenges, there are promising opportunities:

• The Curriculum for Wales (2022) includes a focus on ethical, informed citizenship and provides a platform for embedding legal and rights education.
• Initiatives like the Children’s Legal Centre Wales and university-led outreach programmes (e.g., Street Law) are creating accessible, Welsh-contextualised resources.
• Recent policy frameworks—including the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019 and the Delivering Justice for Wales programme—emphasise legal literacy as essential for access to justice and democratic engagement.

Many schools also engage with the UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA), which promotes a rights-aware culture. However, this often stops short of offering practical legal education, especially around due process, criminal responsibility, or navigating the justice system.