UK elections chief says children need lessons from 11 to be ready to vote at 16

Vijay Rangarajan says a lot of work is going into the educational material to ensure it is impartial. Photograph: gov.uk

Schools will need to give democracy lessons to children from the age of 11 and ask teachers to leave their politics at the classroom door to help prepare for votes at 16, the head of the UK elections watchdog has said.

Vijay Rangarajan, the chief executive of the Electoral Commission, said democratic education would be rolled out at first to those aged over 14 in preparation for votes at 16 at the next election.