Pupils in secondary schools are being told not to ‘offend’ other people by a textbook for Citizenship Studies GCSE.
A revision guide for the course says that Britons have a responsibility ‘to use freedom of speech but not offend’.
The book has been published by Pearson Edexcel, the exam board responsible for compiling content and exams for the course.
Almost 21,000 pupils took the subject in England in 2025.
Last night, campaigners said the book was ‘whipping up cancel culture’ and criticised Labour for its plans to roll out the study of citizenship to a wider range of pupils.
Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott said: ‘It’s utterly wrong-headed to teach children they have a right not to be offended.
‘Schools should be places where ideas are tested and debated, not repressed.’
Exam boards are independent of the Government and they design their own materials.
Pupils in secondary schools are being taught not to ‘offend’ other people as part of their Citizenship Studies GCSE (pictured: Pearson revision guide)
It comes amid Labour plans to roll out the study of citizenship to a wider range of pupils (pictured: Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson)
However, Mrs Trott hit out at Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, for making citizenship lessons compulsory for primary school pupils as part of Labour’s ‘plan for change’.
She added: ‘Labour wants to double down on more citizenship in our schools.
‘We need less ideology and more focus on the core skills that equip children for life beyond the classroom, not wrap them in cotton wool.’
The guide also states that ‘freedom of speech may be misused to promote extremist views’.
It adds: ‘This should be limited so it protects rights and does not discriminate against others.’
Lord Young of Acton, the director of the Free Speech Union, said: ‘This revision guide is encouraging children to cancel their classmates for saying something they find offensive. It’s whipping up cancel culture in schools.
‘If children are being taught in school that the right to free speech doesn’t include the right to be offensive, God help us.’
He quoted Lord Justice Sedley, adding: ‘Free speech includes not only the inoffensive, but the irritating, the contentious, the eccentric, the heretical, the unwelcome and the provocative, provided it does not tend to promote violence. Freedom only to speak inoffensively is not worth having.’
Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott (pictured) said the approach was ‘utterly wrong-headed’
The textbook also angered gender-critical campaigners with an apparently partisan take on the debate over transgender people using single sex facilities.
It said it is ‘discrimination’ to provide toilets only for men and women and that ‘human rights come ahead of the right of a country to conduct its own affairs’.
One example of discrimination listed in the book is ‘gender reassignment discrimination, eg toilets provided only for men or women’.
In the ‘Answers’ section at the back of the guide, it adds: ‘Gender can change individual identity. For example, an individual born in one gender might choose to change to another gender, with changes in appearance, clothing, and practical aspects such as which public toilets they use.’
It appears to directly contradict the Supreme Court ruling last year, which said the word ‘woman’ refers to a biological woman, and single-sex spaces can legally be preserved.
A Pearson spokesman said: ‘Pearson regularly reviews its content to ensure it remains accurate and aligned with curriculum requirements and relevant government guidance.
‘As part of this process, we are reviewing the wording in our citizenship studies revision guide and workbook for clarity and accuracy.’
A Department for Education spokesman said: ‘Teaching children a range of viewpoints is vital, but our impartiality guidance is clear that all materials used by schools must be accurate, age appropriate and teachers must provide a balanced presentation of views where political issues are covered.
‘Schools are free to include a full range of issues, ideas and materials in their curriculum, including where they are challenging or controversial, subject to their obligations to ensure political balance.
‘As an independent organisation, it is up to Pearson Edexcel to decide on the content of their materials.’
