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Last updated on 10 November 2026

Humanities

Humanities

Overview

Humanities is one of the six Areas of Learning and Experience in the Curriculum for Wales. It covers five disciplines: geography; history; religion, values and ethics (RVE); business studies; and social studies. It has five statements of what matters. Learners may also meet such disciplines as classics, economics, law, philosophy, politics, psychology and sociology, where appropriate.

Humanities is about people and the world. Learners study how the natural world works and how human actions change it. They study how societies are organised and led, and why the same events are told in different ways. Enquiry runs through the Area. Learners ask questions, weigh evidence and accept that some conclusions stay partial. The final statement asks them to use what they learn to take considered and ethical action.

Under the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021, RVE is mandatory in this Area for learners aged 3 to 16. Religious education was already compulsory. The scope now includes non-religious philosophical convictions. The parental right to withdraw has gone for ages 3 to 16. Statutory RVE guidance under section 71 of the Act says schools must have regard to their locally agreed syllabus. Otherwise, schools decide how to organise the Area. Hwb (the Welsh Government's digital learning platform) says design can be "integrated, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary or disciplinary". Learners need a broad, balanced curriculum across all five disciplines. Read the Humanities guidance on Hwb.

What does Humanities look like in practice?

Geography

Year 8 learners do coastal fieldwork at Borth, on the Ceredigion coast. They measure beach profiles and compare sea-defence options. They explain how physical processes and human decisions shape the same stretch of coast. This is the natural world statement in action, at about progression step 4.

History

A Year 5 and 6 class compares census returns, photographs and oral testimony about the Dowlais ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil. Asking why accounts of the same years differ serves the statement on how events are perceived, interpreted and represented.

Religion, values and ethics

Reception children visit a gurdwara and a church in Cardiff, handle artefacts, and share how their own families mark special days. Then they talk about why some places matter so much to people. This is early work on the statement about human societies and beliefs.

Business studies

Year 10 learners analyse labour market information for Rhondda Cynon Taf, then pitch an ethical social enterprise to employers there. They justify its economic, social and environmental impact. This serves the statement on taking considered and ethical action, and gives careers and work-related experiences a real audience.

Social studies

A Welsh-medium Year 3 class investigates how a Gwynedd community council decides what happens to the village playground. They survey classmates and present their findings to a councillor. The project starts from the enquiry statement and ends in the citizenship one.

Statements of what matters

The 5 statements below are the official wording from the Curriculum for Wales. Together they set out the big ideas learners should come to understand in Humanities.

Enquiry, exploration and investigation inspire curiosity about the world, its past, present and future
Learners ask questions, gather and evaluate evidence, including through digital humanities, and draw conclusions. Hwb accepts that "some conclusions can only be partial or inconclusive", so plan some enquiries where the honest answer is "it depends". Read it on Hwb
Events and human experiences are complex, and are perceived, interpreted and represented in different ways
Learners look at how worldviews and context shape the stories told about the past and present. Ask them to judge whether an interpretation holds up, then reach an informed view of their own. Read it on Hwb
Our natural world is diverse and dynamic, influenced by processes and human actions
Learners study places locally, in Wales and worldwide, and how people and environments affect each other. Include sustainability, the climate and nature emergency, and the part beliefs play. Plan fieldwork that puts a local landscape next to one elsewhere in Wales and one abroad. Read it on Hwb
Human societies are complex and diverse, and shaped by human actions and beliefs
Learners study chronology, cause and effect, and governance. Hwb calls for "consistent exposure" to local, Welsh and world stories, including those of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people. Plan a sequence where the local story, the story of Wales and a world story meet. Read it on Hwb
Informed, self-aware citizens engage with the challenges and opportunities that face humanity, and are able to take considered and ethical action
Rights, justice, sustainability and a society that confronts racism lead to what Hwb calls "committed social action". Build in a real outcome: a letter, a campaign, or a presentation to someone who can act on it. Read it on Hwb

Progression in Humanities

Progression step 1

Around age 5, in nursery or reception, learning is play-based and starts with the child's own world: "I can, through play, explore, discover and begin to ask simple questions". Learners sense past, present and future through events in their own lives, recognise places that matter to them, and notice that people are similar and different. They begin to see how they affect the natural world and that actions have consequences.

Progression step 2

Around age 8, about Year 3, learners take part in enquiries with growing independence, collect and sort information from given sources, and present simple conclusions. They start to say "I can recognise the difference between facts and beliefs". They sequence events, compare lives past and present, and describe places in their locality, Wales and the wider world. Rights, fairness, rules and sustainability come into view.

Progression step 3

Around age 11, about Year 6, learners frame their own enquiries and reflect on their methods. They distinguish facts, opinions and beliefs, and see that identity and belief shape interpretations: "I can use evidence to explain how aspects of the past have been represented and interpreted in different ways". They explain human and physical processes simply, describe how Wales has been governed, and plan and take action in their community.

Progression step 4

Around age 14, about Year 9, learners use a range of research approaches, look for patterns across data and sources, and weigh evidence: "I can analyse the usefulness and consider the reliability and validity of a range of evidence". They explain why interpretations differ and change. They build a chronological map of the past, compare systems of governance including those of Wales, analyse why injustice and inequality exist, and plan how to make their voice heard.

Progression step 5

Around age 16, about Year 11, learners carry out thorough enquiries independently and justify their methods: "I can critically evaluate the usefulness, validity and reliability of qualitative and quantitative evidence". They recognise the limits of their own perspective, evaluate contested causes and significance, and compare local, national and global governance including democracy in Wales. They judge their own role as ethical, informed citizens.

How does Humanities relate to the four purposes?

Ambitious, capable learners

Hwb's principles of progression ask for "a growing understanding of how to resolve contradictory or conflicting accounts". Learners frame increasingly sophisticated questions, judge the reliability of sources and back their conclusions with evidence. The enquiry statement does most of the work, and the step 5 expectation of independent, thorough enquiry sets the ceiling high.

Enterprising, creative contributors

Hwb's guidance asks learners to present findings "in creative and innovative ways" and to imagine "possible futures based on the evidence". Business studies adds ethical entrepreneurship, and social studies gives learners real problems in their community to tackle. Planning an investigation, setting aims and success criteria, and reflecting on methods builds the measured risk-taking this purpose values.

Ethical, informed citizens

Humanities serves this purpose most directly. Hwb calls the Area "central to learners becoming ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world". The fifth statement asks for considered and ethical action. RVE brings learners into contact with different religions and non-religious philosophical convictions. Learning about rights under the UNCRC gives them the language to act on what they find.

Healthy, confident individuals

Hwb's introduction says these experiences "help develop learners' resilience, build independence, and increase self-confidence and self-esteem". Understanding their own identity, heritage and place gives learners a secure footing. RVE gives them room to ask what they believe and why. Taking part in social action and seeing it change something builds practical confidence.

Cross-cutting themes

Local, national and international contexts

Hwb says these contexts are "integral to this Area". Humanities guidance discusses cynefin (a sense of place and belonging) more than any other Area. Do not keep the youngest learners on local studies or save the international perspective for the oldest. Mix all three scales at every age.

Careers and work-related experiences

Hwb asks learners to explore careers past, present and future, including "careers of the past and why they no longer exist", and to analyse labour market information. Business studies covers employment rights and responsibilities, ethical entrepreneurship, business ethics, and sustainable green industrial processes and practices.

Human rights education and diversity

The guidance asks for chances for learners to understand the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and to recognise their own and others' rights. The statements also name the UNCRPD, a society "that confronts and addresses racism", and the stories of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people.

Relationships and sexuality education

Hwb says Humanities can show how societal understandings of relationships, sex, gender and sexuality have changed over time, for example how norms and perceptions of LGBTQ+ people have changed. RVE adds religious and philosophical views on relationships. RSE is a separate mandatory element for ages 3 to 16, with its own RSE Code under the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021.

Cross-curricular skills

Literacy

Hwb lists oracy "through discussion, role play, questioning and presentations". It also lists writing that describes, explains, discusses and evaluates using disciplinary vocabulary, and reading texts "from a variety of places and times" to analyse evidence and evaluate interpretations. Every source a learner questions is literacy work.

Numeracy

Learners collect numerical data through primary and secondary research, then analyse and represent it in different ways. Reading maps, giving accurate directions and drawing their own routes all count, and so do chronology and scale. A timeline is a number line with history on it.

Digital competence

Hwb names geographical information systems, digital sources, and software to analyse and present qualitative and quantitative data, plus the impact of digital technology on societies. The enquiry statement adds digital humanities. The Digital Competence Framework is non-statutory supporting guidance. The skill itself is mandatory.

Thinking tools for Humanities

Practical classroom strategies that develop thinking skills across Humanities. Each tool is ready to use in your next lesson.

Big Questions

Open-ended, thought-provoking questions that push learners beyond simple recall into genuine problem-solving, reasoning and creative thinking.

Questioning

Diamond Ranking

A prioritisation tool that gets learners discussing and defending what matters most, arranging ideas into a diamond shape that forces real choices.

Ranking & sorting

Fishbone Diagram

A graphical organiser shaped like a fish skeleton where causes branch off a central spine leading to an effect, helping learners map cause-and-effect relationships.

Visual organisers

Living Graphs

An interactive graph where learners place statement cards at the correct position on pre-labelled axes, exploring cause and effect, change over time, and spatial relationships.

Visual organisers

Mysteries

An inquiry activity where learners receive a set of information cards and must sort, connect and use them to solve an open-ended question, developing reasoning and evidence-handling skills.

Questioning

Source Square

A structured analysis tool where learners examine a source from four perspectives, each occupying one quadrant of a square: content, origin, purpose, and reliability.

Visual organisers

Common questions about Humanities

Your school decides. Hwb's guidance says curriculum design within Humanities can be "integrated, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary or disciplinary". You may teach history, geography and RVE as distinct lessons, run enquiry projects across several disciplines, or mix the two.

Hwb asks for a broad and balanced curriculum linked to all five disciplines (history, geography, RVE, business studies and social studies) from 3 to 16. Statutory RVE guidance under section 71 of the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021 says schools must have regard to their locally agreed syllabus.

Start with your existing strengths. If your history and geography departments already work well together, build on that.

Yes. The Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021 makes Religion, values and ethics (RVE) mandatory for learners aged 3 to 16. It is part of Humanities. Religious education was already compulsory. The Act changed the scope and ended parental withdrawal. Hwb calls RVE "objective, critical and pluralistic", covering religions and non-religious philosophical convictions. Statutory RVE guidance under section 71 of the Act says schools must have regard to the agreed syllabus. An Agreed Syllabus Conference recommends the syllabus, and the local authority adopts it. Voluntary aided schools with a religious character teach denominational RVE, which need not follow it. In any school with a religious character, parents can request the other form. That is a choice of provision, not withdrawal.

Enquiry is the first Humanities statement of what matters on Hwb: "Enquiry, exploration and investigation inspire curiosity about the world, its past, present and future." Learners ask questions, gather and evaluate evidence and draw conclusions. Hwb says "some conclusions can only be partial or inconclusive". Around Year 6 (progression step 3), learners frame their own enquiries: "I can use my experiences, knowledge and beliefs to generate ideas and frame enquiries". A Merthyr Tydfil class might compare census returns, photographs and oral testimony to ask why accounts of the Dowlais ironworks differ. Around Year 11 (step 5), learners carry out "full and thorough enquiries" and justify their methods. Read the statements on Hwb

The other Areas of Learning and Experience

Expressive Arts

Expressive Arts

3 statements of what matters

 Health and Well-being

Health and Well-being

5 statements of what matters

 Languages, Literacy and Communication

Languages, Literacy and Communication

4 statements of what matters

 Mathematics and Numeracy

Mathematics and Numeracy

4 statements of what matters

 Science and Technology

Science and Technology

6 statements of what matters