Computer Science - Primary School Core Subject - Opportunity for every pupil. 

The UK is falling behind.
AI is reshaping every industry — from finance to healthcare, logistics, engineering, manufacturing, and the creative economy. Yet our national curriculum still treats Computer Science as an optional subject that many children never even touch until late secondary school, if at all.

This is no longer sustainable.

Computer Science is not a “specialist” subject. It is basic literacy for the modern world.

Why this matters now:

• AI and automation are changing job requirements faster than the education system can react.
• Children who don’t learn digital skills early fall behind permanently — especially girls, lower-income families, and pupils in rural and underfunded areas.
• The UK will face a shortage of over 5 million tech-enabled workers by 2030, according to multiple studies (Microsoft/Goldsmiths, WEF, OECD).
• Countries like Finland, Singapore, South Korea and Estonia already teach coding and digital thinking from age 6.

This is about equality, not just technology.

Without early computer science education, we reinforce divides based on: income, gender, geography, school funding and parental digital literacy.

Children with access to devices, STEM clubs and supportive schools surge ahead.
Children without access get left behind — and the gap compounds over a lifetime.

What we are asking government to do?  - Update the national curriculum so that EVERY child learns Computer Science from primary school onwards — at an age-appropriate level:

• Ages 5–7: logic, sequencing, digital safety, basic coding games.
• Ages 7–11: coding fundamentals, problem solving, understanding how technology works.
• Ages 11–14: data literacy, AI basics, algorithmic thinking, creative computing.
• Ages 14–16: full Computer Science GCSE made widely available, not restricted to select STEM or well-funded schools.

Why this benefits every child, not just future programmers!

Computer Science teaches: problem solving, analytical thinking, resilience, creativity and systems understanding.

These are the core skills of the future economy — regardless of career.

We must act now!

AI is accelerating inequality. Children who can work with technology will thrive.
Children who cannot will be excluded from entire segments of the job market.

The UK cannot afford another generation unprepared for the digital world.

Please sign and share this petition to make Computer Science a core subject from primary school. Our children deserve the skills to shape the future — not just consume it.