Report Finds School History Lessons Marginalise Women’s Contributions

Published: 24 September 2025. The English Chronicle Desk

A recent report has revealed that school history lessons in England give insufficient attention to the role of women, often limiting their presence to a handful of monarchs or famous suffragettes, while ignoring the broader contributions of women throughout history.

The study, conducted by the campaign group End Sexism in Schools, analysed key stage 3 curricula—the first three years of secondary education—and found that women were largely absent from the material taught. Monarchs such as Elizabeth I and Anne Boleyn were among the few women mentioned, alongside suffragettes Emmeline Pankhurst and Emily Davison. Freedom of information requests submitted to secondary schools indicated that 59% of history lessons included no mention of women, 29% incorporated women within broader topics, and only 12% focused specifically on female figures.

Even when women were discussed, the report found they were more frequently portrayed as victims rather than central protagonists. For example, the women murdered by Jack the Ripper were more likely to be highlighted than the female codebreakers at Bletchley Park during World War II. End Sexism in Schools argues that this selective representation reinforces gender stereotypes and limits young people’s understanding of history.

Debbie Brazil, founder of the campaign, emphasised the broader implications of this curricular bias. “It is crucial that students understand that women in history is not a separate topic—women’s lives are part of history,” she said. “A representative curriculum is not optional enrichment but a matter of historical accuracy and a fair education. Without it, we are not just ignoring half of the population, we are teaching a false version of the past. Girls cannot relate to what they are taught, boys miss opportunities to develop empathy and positive role models, and society inherits a distorted historical narrative that perpetuates misogyny.”

The campaign highlighted overlooked figures, such as Johanna Ferrour, a leader in the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt, arguing that including these women in lessons could provide valuable role models and broaden historical understanding. Kate Mosse, bestselling author and co-founder of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, added: “We need to put all the women and girls whose achievements have gone unrecorded back into the history books and into our classrooms. Women and men built the world together, and it’s essential that this is reflected in the history curriculum. We can’t sideline the achievements of half the population.”

The report also identified gaps in the national curriculum, with most references to women concentrated around the Tudor era and the 19th century suffrage movement. Elizabeth I and Mary I remain the only women named in the curriculum, while in 2023 women appeared in just 6% of GCSE and A-level history exam questions.

End Sexism in Schools is calling for the Department for Education to revise the national curriculum to integrate the role of women across all historical periods and for examination boards to include more named female figures in assessment questions. The campaign recommends inclusive language, such as using “ruler” instead of “king,” and ensuring that mark schemes explicitly reward balanced discussion of both men’s and women’s contributions. It also urges schools to feature primary sources written by women and historical ideas developed by women more prominently.

The findings come amid ongoing discussions about gender representation in education and the need for curricula to reflect the full diversity of historical experience. Advocates argue that incorporating the achievements of women into mainstream history teaching is essential not only for historical accuracy but also for fostering a more inclusive and equitable learning environment.