Rights at Different ages (AQA GCSE Citizenship Studies): Revision Note

What rights do we enjoy at different ages?

Rights for pre-teens

Age 10

• You can start to have things like your ears pierced (usually with a parent present)

• You can choose your own religion and can be held legally responsible for a crime

  • E.g. In 1993 Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, both aged 10, were found guilty of the murder of two-year-old James Bulger

  • Both boys were tried, convicted and sentenced in a youth court adapted for their age

Age 11

• You can open a bank account with your parent’s permission

• Most young people transition to secondary school at this age

Age 12

• You can watch age-12 films and play age-12 games

• In some cases you can be held in secure accommodation or subject to a court order while awaiting trial

Rights for teens

Age 13

• You may take a part-time job with limits on hours and tasks

• You can open a social media account (following the site’s age rules)

Age 14

• You can enter pubs that allow under-18s, but can’t buy or drink alcohol

• You can attend concerts suitable for 14-year-olds

Age 15

• You can be held in custody or fined for criminal offences

  • E.g. In 2023, a 15-year-old was stopped by police in Birmingham for riding an illegal electric scooter on a public road

  • As e-scooters are not legal for private use in public places, the teenager was issued with a fine

• You can rent or watch age-15 films and games

Age 16

• You can work full time (with conditions), leave school and give legal consent to sexual activity

• You can apply for a passport, change your name and obtain a proof-of-age card

Age 17

• You can hold a full driver’s licence and be interviewed by police without an adult

• You may register to vote (but cannot actually vote until 18)

Rights for legal adults

Age 18

• You become a legal adult and can vote, serve on a jury, drink alcohol legally and get married without parents’ permission

  • The government has announced that they intend to change the law to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in the next general election

• You can work full-time at adult wage rates and enter contracts

Age 19–20

• You are no longer treated as a child by most services

• Support from children’s youth services begins to end unless there are special needs

Age 21

• You gain the right to drive larger vehicles (with licence), adopt a child and access the full minimum wage

• You can enter 21+ licensed venues such as certain clubs

Age 22–23 and 25

• At 22, care support ends for care leavers

• At 23, you become entitled to the National Living Wage (if not an apprentice), and at 25, further benefit entitlements