Eight years. Two elections. One budget that never quite adds up. Choose a ward, listen to residents, weigh the evidence and find common ground. Can you keep your seat?
Badges
A Common Understanding game. Riverbridge and everyone in it are made up, but the rules and pressures are real. Your progress is saved only on this device. We count anonymous totals, such as how many games are finished, but never anything that could identify you.
Your class becomes Riverbridge Council’s cabinet. Every decision is made together, by a vote of the whole class, and situations come from all four wards. One term lasts four years, ending in a council-wide election. It takes about one lesson.
Put the game on the board.The teacher runs the screen and taps the votes in.
Read each situation aloud.Decide by show of hands whether to ask an officer for more evidence.
Debate, then vote.Use the optional 60-second timer, take a show of hands for each option, and enter the numbers. The option with the most votes wins. A tie means more debate and a re-vote.
Choose a spokesperson.For the Echo interview and question time, a student reads out the answer the class voted for.
There are no right political answers. The best councils look for evidence, think about who’s affected, and accept what they can’t be sure of.
How to play
There are no right political answers. The best councillors look for evidence, think about who’s affected, and accept what they can’t be sure of.
Choose your ward
Riverbridge has four wards. Each has its own residents and issues.
Teacher notes: Common Ground
A 30-minute simulation for Years 9 to 11. Students play an independent councillor on Riverbridge Council, a fictional unitary council, over two four-year terms. They choose one of four wards: Northgate (river town), Seacombe (coast), Central (inner city) or Hollowfield (rural villages). Each ward has its own issues, and some early decisions are tested later in the game, so students experience the value (and cost) of preparing for risks that may never happen. There are no right political answers: the game rewards careful, evidence-based decisions and shows the trade-offs behind each choice.
Earlier decisions have consequences: closing a service, starting a trial or raising council tax comes back later, in follow-up situations and in what residents say at the start of each year. Each year, a reporter from the Riverbridge Echo interviews the player. Honest, evidence-based answers build trust; confident promises win good headlines but can be fact-checked the following year.
Before each election there is a hustings: residents ask three questions in a packed community hall, and two fictional rival candidates give their own answers. Students can defend their record with evidence, make a promise, criticise a rival or dodge the question, and a “room mood” meter shows the audience’s reaction. The Riverbridge Echo then reports on the night, and a strong or weak hustings can move the vote by a few points. Promises made at the first hustings are checked at the second. In a few situations, the council is split and the player casts the deciding vote. Each year’s budget offers different choices: ward councillors can propose amendments (which only pass with enough influence), and cabinet members choose between different savings packages. Hustings answers vary too, from setting out a plan or admitting a mistake to deflecting blame or attacking a rival.
Players who reach the cabinet may get the chance to stand for Leader of the Council in Year 6. Leaders are chosen by councillors, not voters, so influence with colleagues matters. A successful Leader who is re-elected may be invited to stand for Parliament. The final report includes a “ten years later” epilogue showing the long-term effects of the player’s biggest decisions.
Some situations test the rules for councillors, such as declaring a financial interest, accepting gifts from a developer, handling a whistleblower’s concern or doing a favour for a friend. If a player breaks the code of conduct, an investigation follows, they resign, a by-election is held and the Echo reports it, ending the game early. This is deliberately simplified: in real life, outcomes vary, and the most serious cases can be criminal offences. Other situations cover misinformation (a misleading viral clip, rumours about a phone mast), Freedom of Information requests, residents voting on a budget, and emergencies such as a cyberattack.
Once enough people have played, students see the percentage of players who made each choice (anonymous totals only). At the end, each student gets a “councillor style”, such as The Evidence Seeker or The Deal Maker, based on how they decided, not what they decided.
Learning aims
Explain the difference between councillors (elected) and officers (paid, politically neutral staff).
Describe the services councils provide, and the difference between statutory and discretionary services.
Explain how councils are funded: council tax, business rates, government grants and charges.
Understand budget pressures, the 4.99% council tax limit in England, referendums and section 114 notices.
Compare how issues differ between coastal, urban and rural communities.
Practise weighing evidence, explaining reasoning and recognising the limits of what we know.
Ways to run it
Class council mode: choose it from the start screen. The class acts as the council’s cabinet for one four-year term (about one lesson). The teacher reads out each situation, takes a show of hands and enters the votes; the most popular option wins, and ties go back for debate. A spokesperson reads out the class’s answers in the Echo interview and at council question time, and the term ends with a council-wide election for all 60 seats.
Solo or pairs: students play on phones or laptops. Progress saves on the device, so it can be finished for homework.
Compare wards: give different groups different wards, then compare the issues they faced and the choices they made.
Whole class: project the game. At each decision, read the evidence aloud, take a show of hands, then reveal the outcome. Use the Aa button for bigger text.
Pause points: before choosing, ask “What else would you want to know?” and “Who might be affected that we haven’t thought about?”
Discussion questions
Which decision was hardest, and why?
When did asking for more evidence change your mind?
How were the issues in your ward different from another group’s ward? Why?
Should a councillor do what residents want, or what the evidence suggests? What if they disagree?
Why might raising council tax lower satisfaction even when it protects services?
Is it worth spending money now to prepare for something that might never happen? How should a council decide?
How did your answers to the Riverbridge Echo affect your headlines? Is it better to sound confident or to be honest about uncertainty?
At the hustings, which kind of answer did the audience respond to best? Is that how real elections work?
Should politicians make promises they can’t be sure they can keep?
Why do councillors have to declare interests and register gifts? What could go wrong if they didn’t?
What was your councillor style? Do you agree with it? What were its blind spots?
After each decision, the game shows how other players chose. Did you make a different choice from most players? Why might that be?
Which groups were most affected by your choices? Were any groups ignored?
Is it fair that the same council tax limit applies to every council, whatever its needs?
Extension tasks
Find your own council’s Band D council tax and three services it provides.
Write a short letter to a local councillor about an issue in your area, using evidence.
Answer: “Explain two ways local councils raise money.” (4 marks)
Real-world facts used in the game
Councillors are elected for four years to represent a ward. Officers carry out decisions and must be politically neutral.
In England in 2026/27, councils could raise council tax by up to 4.99% (2.99% plus 2% for adult social care) without a referendum. The average Band D bill was £2,392.
If a council cannot balance its budget, its finance officer issues a section 114 notice. Birmingham, Nottingham and Croydon are real examples.
Since April 2025, councils in England can charge up to double council tax on second homes.
Communities can ask for a local building, such as a village shop, to be listed as an asset of community value.
Planning decisions must be made on planning grounds, such as flood risk, not on popularity.
Councillors must follow a code of conduct based on the Seven Principles of Public Life (selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership). They must register gifts and hospitality, and declare interests. Failing to declare a financial interest and then voting can be a criminal offence.
Specification links (Pearson Edexcel GCSE Citizenship Studies): Theme A topics 7 and 8; Theme B topic 8. Riverbridge and its people are fictional. The game collects no personal data.