What Association for Citizenship Teaching does

Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT) is a UK-registered charity (Charity no. 1187335) founded in 2001, one year before Citizenship became a statutory National Curriculum subject in England. Operating from a London headquarters (Suite 281 Hill House, 210 Upper Richmond Road, SW15 6NP) with 11-50 employees, ACT functions as the sole professional subject association dedicated to Citizenship education in England. It serves secondary schools, primary schools, further education colleges, multi-academy trusts (MATs), individual teachers, and organisations including universities, libraries, and NGOs. Its operating geography is primarily the UK, with ancillary engagement in Wales (Welsh Government commissions) and Council of Europe networks.

ACT's core offering is a tiered membership platform: free E-membership with limited resource access, Individual teacher membership at £75/year, Primary school membership at £75/year (introductory), School & College membership at £220/year providing 20 unique teacher logins, and Organisation membership at £269/year. Members access 1,033+ searchable resources including lesson plans, schemes of work, and a member-exclusive Model Core Curriculum mapped to Key Stages 1-4, alongside the biannual Teaching Citizenship journal, the ACT Academy e-learning platform (courses on Media Matters, Fraud and Financial Education), the ACT Citizenship Review Tool, ACTive Citizenship Toolkits (KS2-KS4), the annual Teaching Citizenship Conference, and a Quality Mark endorsement service for third-party resources. The technology stack is a WordPress-based website (teachingcitizenship.org.uk) hosting the resource library and member portal.

Revenue derives from membership subscriptions (primary stream), CPD/training events, annual conference tickets (£100-£150 for 2025), Quality Mark application fees (£350 Part 1), donations, and grant funding from the Gordon Cook Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, National Lottery Community Fund, and the U.S. Embassy. Strategic partners include the Department for Education (Deliberative Classroom project), Home Office and National Crime Agency (fraud education), Electoral Commission (election engagement), UK Parliament Education, Welsh Government, Nottingham Trent University, Middlesex University, and the Council of Europe. ACT holds the CfSA Kitemark awarded in 2025 by the Council for Subject Associations.

Name

Association for Citizenship Teaching

Legal name

Association for Citizenship Teaching

Website

https://teachingcitizenship.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT) is a UK-registered charity and the sole professional subject association for Citizenship education in England, serving schools, multi-academy trusts, teachers, and organisations with memberships, curriculum resources, CPD, and policy advocacy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Education Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Civic Participation & Leadership Development (Voting, Advocacy, Community Leadership) (EDAAADAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Civic, Citizenship & Community Engagement Education (EDAAAEAI)

Keywords

• Citizenship education resources
• Subject association membership
• Teacher professional development
• School curriculum support
• Civic education training

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: ACT's primary revenue stream comes from annual membership subscriptions at four tiers: Individual (£75/year), Primary (£75/year introductory), School & College (£220/year), and Organisation (£269/year). Membership provides access to resources, CPD discounts, journal copies, and support. Renewing members receive 25% loyalty discount.
2. CPD Events and Training: Revenue from live CPD sessions, training courses, and conferences. Pricing varies by membership tier and event type, ranging from free for members to £15-£250 for non-members and specific CPD courses.
3. Quality Mark for Resources: Revenue from the quality assurance process for third-party Citizenship education resources. Part 1 application fee is £350, with additional fees for Part 2 quoted based on volume, type, and scale of the resource. Discounts available for ACT Organisation members and charitable organisations.
4. Conference Revenue: Annual Teaching Citizenship Conference generates revenue through ticket sales. Conference 2025 pricing: School & Organisation members £100, Individual members £125, E-members £150. Conference 2026 is free for School & College, Primary, and Individual members.
5. Donations: ACT accepts donations to support their charitable mission of ensuring every young person receives high-quality Citizenship education. The organisation is a registered charity in England & Wales (Charity no: 1187335).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

ACT provides membership subscriptions for Citizenship teachers and schools, granting access to over 1,033 searchable teaching resources, model curricula for Key Stages 1-4, the biannual Teaching Citizenship Journal, and the ACT Academy e-learning platform. The organisation also delivers paid CPD training sessions, an annual Teaching Citizenship Conference, a teacher-led Citizenship Review Tool for school self-assessment, the Quality Mark endorsement programme for third-party resources, and ACTive Citizenship Toolkits, all focused on supporting high-quality Citizenship education across primary, secondary and further education settings in England.

Product overview

ACT offers a comprehensive membership-based platform providing resources, professional development, and advocacy for Citizenship education. The core offerings include multiple membership tiers (Individual, Primary, School & College, Organisation, E-membership) that provide access to teaching resources, the Teaching Citizenship Journal, ACT Academy e-learning platform, Model Core Curriculum for KS1-KS4, ACTive Citizenship Toolkits, Citizenship Review Tool, Quality Mark certification, annual conference, awards program, and live CPD/training events. The platform also includes advocacy campaigns like Make Space for Citizenship.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Teaching Citizenship Journal: ACT's flagship biannual journal featuring articles, in-depth features, news, case studies, policy updates, practical classroom resources, and lesson ideas for Citizenship teachers.
• ACT Academy
• Teaching Citizenship Conference

Products and services

• ACT Membership
• Teaching Citizenship Journal

Quantifiable outcome

• Citizenship education research with Nottingham Trent University shows GCSE Citizenship Studies boosts political understanding and interest, with particularly strong benefits for young women and students from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

25 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The Electoral CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT and the Electoral Commission partnered to deliver specialist lesson plans and CPD to increase school engagement in the 2024 General Election. They jointly offer the 'Welcome to Your Vote' CPD introduction to democracy, elections and voting.
• Home OfficecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT collaborated with the Home Office and National Crime Agency to produce and disseminate fraud and financial education lesson plans and teacher CPD materials.
• Department for EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDfE funded ACT to develop the Deliberative Classroom project to support teachers in handling controversial issues in Citizenship education.
• National Crime AgencycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT worked with the National Crime Agency and Home Office to produce fraud and financial education resources and teacher CPD.
• National Citizen Service (NCS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCS CIC is a legacy fund of National Citizen Service, a youth programme for personal development. ACT collaborated with NCS and developed guidance materials on active citizenship for schools and colleges.
• Middlesex UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT collaborated with Middlesex University on academic research projects and intervention studies, including the National Citizenship Education Study.
• Ormiston TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT works closely with Ormiston Trust to collaborate on developing social action and provide advice and support to their schools.
• UK Parliament EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT collaborates with UK Parliament Education on events and networks, providing opportunities for staff to connect directly with policymakers and subject experts.
• Nottingham Trent UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT partnered with Nottingham Trent University on research showing that GCSE Citizenship Studies has a powerful impact on political understanding and interest, with particularly strong benefits for young women and students from ethnic minority backgrounds.
• Media and Information Literacy Alliance (MILA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCross-sector initiative bringing together organisations that believe in media and information literacy to help people make better choices.
• Charter College of TeachingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAs a professional associate and learning partner of the Chartered College of Teaching, ACT works together to support professional development.
• Democracy ClassroomminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT is one of 40 democratic education organisations collectively supporting schools, teachers and practitioners to engage young people in elections.
• VotesForSchoolsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJointly worked on resources to support non-specialist teachers in debating topical issues in their classrooms.
• Five Nations NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT has coordinated the Five Nations Network for a decade, bringing together Citizenship education practitioners from England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to share best practice.
• Council of EuropeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT attends a European Education policy network with Council of Europe member states to promote democracy and human rights education. ACT is part of the Council of Europe Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Policy Network.
• First NewsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT works with First News to promote news literacy as a key part of effective Citizenship education.
• English Speaking UnionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerA charity working to give young people speaking and listening skills needed to thrive in a changing world.
• Amnesty InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT works with Amnesty to promote human rights education as a key part of Citizenship.
• The Big Help OutminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLaunched in 2023, The Big Help Out brings the nation together through volunteering. ACT encourages schools to get involved.
• Democratic LifecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition of organisations believing Citizenship education is essential to preparing young people for democratic life. ACT is an active member of this coalition.
• Fair Education AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT is an active member of the Fair Education Alliance, working with over 250 organisations for a fairer and more equitable education system for all children.
• APPG on Political EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT contributes to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Political Education, supporting the importance of political literacy as part of Citizenship education and youth participation in democratic life.
• Welsh GovernmentminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT was commissioned by the Welsh Government to develop specialist education resources for teachers of the new Curriculum for Wales. ACT also worked with Welsh Government to develop impartiality guidelines for schools in Wales.
• Oak National AcademyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDuring the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, ACT mobilised its network of teachers to create digital content for homeschooling pupils through Oak National Academy.
• London GovernmentminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT produced London Citizenship Curriculum resources to challenge young Londoners to consider their identity and make a positive change.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Association for Science Education (ASE): UK's largest subject association for science teachers, operating a similar membership-based model with tiered subscriptions, CPD events, annual conference, and curriculum resources. Directly comparable in structure, mission, and GTM to ACT's Citizenship teaching focus.
• Historical Association (HA): UK subject association for history teachers providing membership subscriptions, CPD events, and curriculum support. Mirrors ACT's operating model as a small charity serving a single school subject community in the UK.
• Association for Physical Education (afPE): UK subject association for PE teachers providing membership, CPD, and curriculum support. Operates an analogous model to ACT for the PE subject community and is a fellow CfSA member.
• Geographical Association (GA): UK subject association for geography teachers offering membership tiers, CPD, journals, and teaching resources. Operates on the same professional-association-for-subject-teachers model as ACT and is a fellow member of the Council for Subject Associations.
• National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE): UK subject association for English teachers running a comparable membership-plus-CPD-plus-journal-plus-conference model. Closely comparable in size, structure, and member base to ACT's Citizenship education focus.
• Mathematical Association (MA): Long-established UK subject association for mathematics teachers offering membership, journals, and CPD. Compares directly to ACT in operating model, scale (small charity), and member base (school teachers).
• National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD): UK subject association for art and design teachers offering membership, journals, CPD, and curriculum resources. Closely mirrors ACT's structure as a small charity serving a single school subject.
• Economics, Business and Enterprise Association (EBEA): UK subject association for economics and business teachers, with comparable membership and CPD offerings. Particularly relevant as an adjacent social-science subject association with similar UK-only, school-focused remit.

Broad incumbents

• Chartered College of Teaching: Larger professional body for teachers across all subjects and phases, offering membership, CPD, and research. ACT is a professional associate of the Chartered College. Broader in scope but overlaps on the professional-development and CPD proposition for teachers.

Others

• Council for Subject Associations (CfSA): Umbrella body that awarded ACT the CfSA Kitemark in 2025. While not a direct peer, CfSA provides industry context and benchmarking for ACT's category-level position among UK subject associations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/AssociationforCitizenshipTeaching
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/association-for-citizenship-teaching
• Xx.com/ACitizenshipT

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Association for Citizenship Teaching