Green Skills for the Future: DfE Plans to Embed Circular Economy in Schools

A Shift in How Sustainability Is Taught

For years, sustainability education in UK schools has been fragmented. It might be a topic covered in geography here, a project week there, but rarely embedded as a coherent thread running through the curriculum. That is beginning to change.

The Department for Education has announced plans to embed circular economy principles and green skills more systematically into mainstream education, with a focus on preparing young people for careers in a low-carbon, resource-efficient economy. This is a significant development, and one that aligns closely with the work we have been doing through our Resource Literacy campaign.

What Green Skills Actually Means

The term 'green skills' can mean different things in different contexts. In the DfE's framing, it encompasses both the technical competencies needed for green jobs, such as retrofitting buildings, maintaining renewable energy systems, or working in circular supply chains, and the broader literacy needed to understand and navigate a changing economy.

For us, resource literacy is at the heart of this. Understanding where materials come from, how they are used, and what happens to them at end-of-life is a foundational competency for the circular economy. It is also a form of civic literacy, helping young people understand the systems that shape their world and the choices available to them.

What Needs to Happen Next

Announcing an intention to embed green skills is one thing. Delivering it is another. The DfE's plans will need to be backed by concrete curriculum changes, teacher training, and assessment frameworks that genuinely reward circular thinking.

Teachers cannot be expected to teach what they have not been taught themselves. Investment in continuing professional development for educators, particularly in science, technology, design, and geography, will be essential.

We are also calling for the development of a national framework for circular economy competencies, as we set out in our policy brief on circular skills for a net zero workforce. Without a shared understanding of what learners should know and be able to do, curriculum integration will remain patchy and inconsistent.

Our Role

At Utter Rubbish, we have been working to make this shift happen for nearly a decade. Our Resource Literacy curriculum framework has been developed and piloted with schools across the UK, and we have been in ongoing dialogue with the Department for Education about how to scale this work.

The DfE's announcement is encouraging. We will be engaging closely with the consultation process and advocating for an approach that is ambitious, evidence-based, and genuinely transformative, not just a box-ticking exercise.