British Values

At the heart of Professional Apprenticeships, British Values are of paramount importance to us. We see British Values as underpinning what it is to be a citizen in a modern and diverse community.

The Department for Education’s five-part definition of British values includes:

• Democracy
• The rule of law
• Individual liberty
• Mutual respect
• Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs

Individual Liberty: The right to act, believe and express oneself in a manner of one’s own choosing, free from unjust or undue control, coercion or violence if others, including the government. The concept of individual freedom is central to the ideal of a free society.

Democracy: The belief in freedom and equality between people, in which power is held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves. All the people are involved in decision-making, typically by voting to elect representatives to speak on their behalf.

It includes:

1. A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections.
2. The active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life.
3. Protection of the human rights of all citizens.
4. A rule of law, in which the laws and the procedures apply.

Rule of law: The principle that all people, organisations and the elected government are subject to and accountable to the law that is fairly applied and enforced. The rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential to their well-being and safety.

Mutual Respect and Tolerance: The acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the case of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour.

Each person, as a human being, has the inherent right to be treated with dignity and respect with regard to ability, age, gender, faith, heritage, race, sexual orientation, disability or any other aspect of identity or personal circumstance.

Mutual respect and tolerance involves all actively working together to create a work and learning environment free from discrimination and harassment.