Curriculum and Assessment Review

For a quarter of a century, young people in England have benefitted from a determined commitment to high standards for all within our state education system. This inspirational commitment to excellence for all has been maintained through successive administrations, resulting in a stronger position in the international league tables. The UK has maintained its place alongside Canada and Scandinavian countries as a rare international exemplar of comprehensive provision for all to age 16, ensuring that all children and young people have access to a broad and balanced curriculum for as long as feasible, thereby enhancing their options and life chances. This hard-earned success reflects the dedicated work of teachers and leaders across the education profession.  

Nevertheless, there is much to be done to ensure that all children and young people gain the foundational and advanced learning that sets them up to achieve, thrive, and foster a lifelong love of learning. Through this review we’ll focus on the most significant areas for improvement, with particular concern for supporting children and young people who are from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, those with a special educational need or disability (SEND) and those who are otherwise vulnerable. 

In addition to the urgent need for a sufficient supply of high-quality teachers that make the most difference to young people’s successful educational outcomes, there is a need to review and refresh our curriculum and assessment frameworks. This Review will address existing problems and ensure that these frameworks are fit for the future.  

The Review is especially crucial if we as a nation are to prepare all our children for the future and to confront the divides that perpetuate the class ceiling. The reality is that we continue to fail the third of our young people who do not achieve five GCSEs at grade 4 or above age 16, a disproportionate number of whom are from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. There are subsequently fewer clear, well-recognised routes available to these young people at 16-19, resulting in a stymying of life chances.  

Meanwhile, debates continue about the breadth and depth of the curriculum, and whether it meets young people’s needs in terms of motivation and preparation for the future. This is particularly pressing in a world where social, technological, commercial and environmental conditions are rapidly changing.  

There is therefore a need to review the existing curriculum and assessment frameworks to ensure that they are fit for purpose for the next quarter of a century. The Review will take stock of successes, weaknesses and opportunities, to provide a curriculum that exemplifies excellence; secures the knowledge and skills young people will need in their future lives; enriches and motivates learning; and adapts to the changing needs of the environment they will navigate.  

As we have said in the Review principles, our approach will be evidence and data driven, and – recognising existing successes and the dangers of unintended consequences – committed to evolution rather than revolution.

Understanding your views and the evidence and experiences that underpin them will be crucial in informing the Review. We have deliberately kept questions as open as possible, and welcome responses from all those interested: young people and their parents, teachers, lecturers, education leaders, subject experts, researchers, employers and others.  

The curriculum represents our society’s collective investment in conferring our precious knowledge and skills for the younger generation, so that they in turn may flourish as individuals and as citizens that build our civil society and economy. It is right that we all have a say. 

Professor Becky Francis CBE