A Devolution Overview

This advanced-response worksheet helps students in Grades 7, 8, and 9 develop a clear, analytical understanding of devolution in the United Kingdom. Through ten in-depth prompts, students explore how political power is shared between the UK government and the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The activity emphasizes explanation, comparison, and critical thinking rather than simple recall.

Learning Goals

• Government Systems and Political Structures (Grades 7-9) – Explain how devolution distributes power within the UK.
• Regional Autonomy and Civic Understanding – Understand the roles of devolved parliaments and assemblies.
• Extended Written Responses – Write clear, well-developed explanations using academic language.
• Analyzing Multiple Perspectives in Governance – Evaluate benefits and challenges of devolved decision-making.

Key Concepts Explored

• Transfer of powers from the UK Parliament to devolved governments
• Roles and responsibilities of the Scottish Parliament, Senedd (Wales), and Northern Ireland Assembly
• Reasons behind movements for greater self-rule
• Differences in policy-making across regions
• Shared powers that continue to link all nations of the UK
• Practical challenges when regions adopt different laws or policies

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed to support secondary social studies and ELA standards.
• High-Level Civic Literacy – Builds understanding of modern governance and political complexity.
• Strong Writing Focus – Encourages structured, evidence-based explanations.
• Promotes Critical Thinking – Students analyze real-world political trade-offs and perspectives.
• Flexible Classroom Use – Suitable for government units, civics courses, interdisciplinary lessons, or assessment.

This printable worksheet helps students move beyond basic facts to understand how political systems function in practice. By analyzing devolution and its impacts, learners strengthen political literacy, analytical writing skills, and their ability to reason about governance and power-sharing. It is a no-prep resource ideal for classrooms and homeschool settings focused on modern UK government and civic understanding.

This worksheet is part of our United Kingdom Worksheets collection.