Hello, I'm Mrs. Barry and I'm going to be your Citizenship teacher today.

We've got a really interesting lesson practising some learning that we've already done.

If any of this is new to you, that's okay because we'll recap it and I'll be able to explain any new concepts or ideas to you.

So when you're ready to practise, we can make a start.

Today's lesson comes from the unit: Practising what we have learnt.

Today's lesson is called How Does the UK Constitution Affect the Way the Country is Governed? Our outcome for today is to explain how the UK Constitution works and how it differs from the Constitution of the United States.

Let's make a start.

During our lesson, we're going to use a range of key terms, so let's have a look at these together now.

Firstly, constitution, which is the set of principles and rules by which a country is organised.

It's usually contained in one document.

Uncodified, which are the laws, legal decisions, and customs that govern a country that does not have a constitution in a single written document.

And conventions, these are rules that are observed despite not being written in a document that has legal authority.

Our lesson has two parts to it today.

We're going to be starting with How does the UK Constitution work? Before we look at How do the UK and US Constitutions differ? So let's make a start on this first section.

How does the UK Constitution work? This lesson will help you revise key concepts for GCSE Citizenship Studies.

The UK Constitution is uncodified, which means it is not written in a single document.

Instead, the UK Constitution is based on laws passed by Parliament, historical texts like the Bill of Rights 1689 common law from judges and conventions.

For example, Parliament passed the Illegal Migration Act 2023, which gives the Government powers to remove people who arrive in the UK illegally.

This demonstrates how Parliamentary sovereignty works.

Parliament has the highest authority and can make or change any law.

For example, the Online Safety Act 2023 introduced new responsibilities for online platforms to protect users, especially children.

This law was passed by Parliament without needing approval from judges or a written constitution.

In the court, because of Parliamentary sovereignty, no court can strike down an act to Parliament.

This makes the UK system flexible and responsive to change, which is a key feature of an uncodified constitution.

I'd like you to have a look at these sentences.

Match the start of the sentences with their endings.

So the starts that we have are: One: The UK is governed by an.

Two: They can change any law because of.

And three: The UK Constitution is not written in a.

And the options you have are: A: single document, B: uncodified constitution, and C: Parliamentary sovereignty.

So give that a go and match them up.

Well done for giving it a go.

The UK is governed by an uncodified constitution.

They can change any law because of Parliamentary sovereignty, and the UK Constitution is not written in a single document.

A unique part of the UK Constitution is the role of conventions, which are unwritten practises that are followed even though they are not laws.

For example, it is a convention that the Prime Minister must be a member of the House of Commons and lead the majority party.

In 2024, there was a public debate about whether it was appropriate for a Prime Minister to appoint political allies to the House of Lords even though it was legal.

These debates show that the UK system relies heavily on tradition and public expectations, not just law.

For example, imagine the Government wanted to reduce the number of MPs in Parliament.

Due to Parliamentary sovereignty, this can be done through a simple act of Parliament without needing special constitutional procedures.

For example, the Parliamentary Constituencies Act of 2020 allowed changes to boundaries and number of MPs, showing how laws affecting democracy can be updated quickly.

This is only possible because of the UK's uncodified and flexible system.

Let's have a look at this.

The Prime Minister having to be from the majority party in the House of Commons is an example of a what? Is it A: convention, B: Act, C: Constitution, or D: Bill? So it's convention.

The Prime Minister having to be from the majority party in the House of Commons is an example of a convention.

Well done if you got that right.

Let's practise what we've learned so far.

So explain how the UK Constitution allows the Government to make laws quickly and flexibly.

Andeep asks us to include examples in our answer.

So pause the video, give this a go, and when you've done it, we can have a look at what you might have written.

Well done for giving that a go.

Your answer might look something like this.

So the UK has an uncodified constitution, meaning it is not written in one document.

This allows Parliament to change laws easily.

Due to Parliamentary sovereignty, no other body can stop Parliament making or changing laws.

For example, in 2023, Parliament passed the Illegal Migration Act without needing a referendum or approval from judges.

The UK also relies on conventions like appointing prime ministers from the majority party, which are flexible and can change with time.

Alternatively, your answer might look something like this.

The UK has an uncodified constitution, which means it is not written in a single document.

This makes it more flexible because laws can be changed through a simple act of Parliament.

Parliamentary sovereignty means Parliament has the highest legal authority, so no court or higher body can block its decisions.

For example, in 2023, the Government passed the Illegal Migration Act, which gave them powers to remove people who arrived in the UK illegally.

There was no need for approval from courts or a referendum.

The UK system also uses conventions, like how the Prime Minister must be the leader of the majority party, which are based on tradition and can change without passing a law.

Well done if your answer read something like that, and well done if you listened to Andeep there and put some examples in your responses.

We're onto part two of our lesson now.

We're going to be looking at, how do the UK and US Constitutions differ? One major difference between the UK Constitution and the Constitution of the United States is that the US has a codified constitution.

This means they have their main laws written in a single document that sets out all powers, responsibilities and rights.

This makes it much harder to change.

For example, the Second Amendment protects the right to own guns and changing it would need a constitutional amendment, something that has not happened since 1992.

In contrast, in the UK, Parliament banned private handgun ownership in 1997 after the Dunblane School tragedy.

This was part of the Parliament in the Firearm Act 1997.

The Dunblane School tragedy was a mass shooting in 1996 where 16 children and their teacher were killed at a primary school in Scotland by a lone gunman.

The tragic event sparked national outcry and a successful campaign for gun reform.

This shows how the UK's uncodified system allows faster action while the US codified system is more rigid.

In 2022, US President Joe Biden backed stricter gun laws following a number of mass shootings in the US and although Congress eventually passed a gun safety law, banning guns was too difficult.

In the UK, similar action would just need a new act of Parliament.

This is because Parliamentary sovereignty means Parliament can act without needing special constitutional approval, unlike in the US where the courts and the US Constitution limit what can be done.

Laura here says, "I always wondered why the US Government could not just change the gun laws, especially if the president wanted the change to happen, it would prevent so many school shootings." Alex replies here.

He says, "Yes, it is very different if you have a codified constitution.

It makes it hard to change because there is no Parliamentary sovereignty in the US." Let's try and answer this question.

Why is it harder to change laws in the US than in the UK? Is it A: the president makes all laws on their own, B: the US constitution is codified, C: the UK has a complicated legal system, or D: the Prime Minister controls all US decisions? So well done if you knew that the reason why it's harder to change laws in the US than in the UK is because the US Constitution is codified.

The United States Government is a federal system.

This means power is shared between central and regional governments.

This map here shows the states of the United States of America.

Each of these states will have its own regional government.

There are three separate branches here to be aware of.

Federal: Laws apply throughout the US.

Authority on laws such as: civil rights, immigration, bankruptcy, tax, and fraud.

State: 50 states have their own systems of laws and courts.

Authority on regional matters such as marriage, education, guns, death, penalty, theft, and health.

And then we have local, and these are counties, cities, towns, and they have authority on local matters, such as parking, housing, building regulations, smoking and sanitation.

So you can see this is a multi-layered approach.

I wonder if you can complete this task.

So I'd like you to match the description to its correct term.

A: own systems of laws and courts, B: laws apply throughout the US, or C: authority on matters such as parking, housing, and building regulations.

And the three options here is federal, local, and state.

Can you match the description to its correct term? So own systems of laws and courts matches to the state.

Laws applied throughout the US matches to federal.

And authority on matters such as parking, housing, and building regulations is local.

Well done if you got those right.

The US has separation of powers with three branches of power, like the UK.

So we have the Head of State, under which we've got the Congress, which is the legislative branch, which is responsible for making laws, approving budgets, and representing the interests of the people.

We have the Government, which is the executive branch, responsible for enforcing and carrying out laws, managing national affairs, and directing foreign policy.

And the final branch is the judiciary.

This is the judicial branch.

It's responsible for courts and justice.

Judges can declare a law as unconstitutional and refuse to apply it.

The US federal system means individual states have the power to make their own laws.

For example, in 2025, US states had different rules for education.

In some states, children start school at age five, while in others it's six or even seven.

And the content of the curriculum can vary widely across the country.

The UK does not have a federal system.

Instead, it has devolution where education is one of the powers devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

However, the UK Parliament still remains sovereign overall.

For example, the school starting age in England is officially five, but in Northern Ireland it is four, and children in Scotland follow a different curriculum from England.

This shows that while devolved governments can make their own decisions in certain areas, their powers are not as wide or protected as those of the US states because of the authority of the UK Parliament.

Another example was in 2024 when the Scottish Government tried to introduce a deposit return scheme for recycling.

It was paused after the UK Government raised concerns about how it would work across the UK.

This shows that devolved powers in the UK are not equal to US state powers because Parliament can still intervene.

In the US, states often have more independents under their codified federal constitution.

What I'd like you to do now is to answer this question.

So what is the difference between devolution in the UK and US state powers? Well done for giving that a go.

Something you might have written is this: The key difference between devolution in the UK and state powers in the US is about where ultimate power lies.

In the UK, devolution means that the UK Parliament gives devolved powers to Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, but the UK remains sovereign and can legally take those powers back or overall decisions.

In the US, state powers are protected by the codified US Constitution.

Each state has its own guaranteed rights and responsibilities like controlling education, and the federal government cannot remove those powers without a constitutional amendment.

Well done if you remembered the difference between devolution in the UK and US state powers.

The UK is a constitutional monarchy, which the US is not.

This means the monarch is the Head of State, but the ability to make laws and run the country lies with elected leaders.

The monarch carries out ceremonial duties, like opening Parliament every year and appointing the Prime Minister after a general election.

You can see here in the image, Keir Starmer meeting King Charles III to become Prime Minister on the 5th of July, 2024.

The next monarch is determined through the royal line of succession.

Children of those in line of succession become heirs to the throne.

The UK is a unitary state which differs from the US.

This means that most of the power and decision-making lies with the central UK Government, which has the authority to make and enforce laws across the entire country.

Devolution gives power to devolved governments on policy areas such as education, health, housing, and environment.

Some devolved governments also have partial legislative control.

However, the central government maintains authority overall and have reserved powers that remain their responsibility and are not devolved, for example, defence.

So here we have the UK system.

So we have a Head of State, Parliament, which is a legislative branch responsible for discussing, debating and passing laws.

The Government, which is the executive branch, responsible for the day-to-day running of the country, making policies and enforcing the laws and judiciary, a judicial branch responsible for legal fairness, serving justice, courts, and they must apply all laws set by Parliament.

What I'd like you to do here is to fill in the correct words to complete this passage.

So let's read it through together.

The United Kingdom is a Parliamentary what and a constitutional what.

It is a what state, which means most of the power and decision-making lies with central government.

Whereas in the US, the Head of what is also the Head of State and decision-making often lies with states not central government.

So give that a go and then we can have a look at the answers together.

So the United Kingdom is a Parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy.

It is a unitary state, which means most of the power and decision-making lies with central Government.

Whereas in the US the head of Government is also the Head of State and decision-making often lies with states, not central government.

Well done if you got all those answers correct.

So let's practise everything we've learned and bring it all together.

What I'd like you to do is to have a look at all of these statements, sort these statements into the Venn diagram according to if they apply to the UK, the US, or both.

And you can see an image here of what a Venn diagram looks like.

They're two circles overlapping and anything that is the same will go in the centre there.

Anything that is just for the UK would go over to the left.

And anything just for the US would be over on the right.

So the statements are these.

One: the Head of State is the Monarch.

Two: There are three branches of power.

Three: The cabinet is chosen by the leader of government.

Four: The constitution is codified.

Five: The Head of the Government is indirectly elected by citizens.

Six: The Constitution is uncodified.

Seven: The Head of the Government is also the Head of State.

And eight: The legislative branch is sovereign.

So pause the video and give this task a good go.

And when you're finished, we can have a look at where these statements would go.

Well done for giving it a go.

And your Venn diagram should look something like this.

So statements one, three, and eight are all individual to the UK.

Seven, six and four are all individual to the US.

And two and five overlap there in the middle.

Well done if you put the statements in the correct places.

So I'd like you to complete this practise task here.

Describe two ways that the US Constitution is different from the UK Constitution.

Jacob tells us we need to include an example for each of the two differences.

And Izzy says that she would mention the Dunblane School tragedy and the US gun laws, federal law, and devolved educational policies.

So take their advice, give this task a go, and when you're finished, come back and we can consider what you might have put.

Well done for giving that task a go.

And your answer might look something like this.

One key difference is that the US Constitution is codified, meaning it is written in a single document and is very difficult to change.

For example, the second gives Americans the right to bear arms, and even after many mass shootings, US politicians have struggled to change the law because it requires a formal amendment agreed by many states.

The UK by contrast, has an uncodified constitution, so Parliament was able to quickly ban private handgun ownership after the Dunblane School tragedy in 1996 with the Parliament in the Firearms Act 1997.

Your answer might look like this.

A second difference is that the US has a federal system, which means individual states have significant control over areas like education.

For example, in 2025, US states had different starting ages for school and different education standards.

In the UK, education is devolved.

So Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales have their own systems, but Parliament remains sovereign and can still intervene if needed, unlike in the US.

Well done for tackling that question.

During today's lesson, we considered how the UK Constitution affects the way the country is governed.

The UK Constitution is uncodified, meaning it is not written in one single document, and Parliamentary sovereignty gives Parliament the power to make or change any law.

This makes the UK system flexible.

For example, Parliament can pass laws without needing constitutional amendments.

The UK Constitution is also based on conventions and traditions.

In contrast, the US Constitution is codified and written in a single document, which makes it much harder to change.

And power is divided between national and state governments in a federal system.

For example, in 2025, US states had different rules on education.

While in the UK, education is devolved, but Parliament remains the ultimate authority.

Well done for completing that lesson today, and I look forward to joining you for another citizenship lesson soon.