It has been the privilege of my life to lead the work of the curriculum and assessment review. I have learned - and am still learning - so much about the workings of our system, and about the details of curriculum and assessment across different subject areas.
Working with the review’s expert panel has been an especial pleasure: not only have I learned much from them but they have also proved a more collegiate, wise and constructive group than I could ever have hoped for. They truly represent the best of our sector.
As we look forward to publishing our final report very soon, it’s timely to look back on the work of the past year and reflect on learning from the review process.
Curriculum and assessment review: what we’ve learned
1. The importance and benefit of robust evidence
Anyone familiar with international literature on education reform will know that it’s standard practice to say that curriculum reform must be evidence-led. However, our review has been distinctive in the extent of evidence collected and our multi-method approach to ensure that data and robust evidence drive our deliberations.
It has been especially important to have two types of evidence:
- Rigorous national datasets and large-scale research that present trends and facts.
- Stakeholder views via our call for evidence and polling.
We have exceptionally large-scale data from both, including over 7,000 responses from when we asked people to share their views on England’s curriculum through our call for evidence.
Views from the ground are crucial because they illustrate the full range of opinions and experiences, as well as frequently expressing deep expertise and highlighting issues relevant to implementation.
Big data and robust research are important to provide more objective analysis and a national picture often beyond the awareness of individual practitioners, young people or campaigners.
This is important because a big takeaway for me is that, for almost every view expressed, somewhere out there exists an equally strongly held counterview. And some of these are based on myths and assumed “truths’” that are unevidenced.
Our reliance on rigorous evidence has given us guardrails that make sure we don’t create unintended harms that damage the experience and prospects of our young people.
2. Much is going well and has shown progress
International comparative evidence is clear that England’s pupils perform respectably across a range of measures. And that, while the pandemic had a damaging impact on performance here, it had less of an impact than it did in many other nations.
Many teachers told us of the progress they feel has been made in curriculum and pedagogic practice in the past quarter century, and we are clear that these improvements are based on the collective efforts of teachers and leaders, as well as the commitments of policymakers to raise standards. To this end, it’s important that the review builds on what’s working well.
3. We have a real chance to make important improvement
Nevertheless, there are important areas badly in need of improvement, and there is a need for a timely refresh across the piece to ensure that the curriculum is cutting-edge. It is, after all, over a decade since the last full-scale review, and we all know how much the world has changed in that time.
As we outlined in our interim report, our four key areas of focus are:
- Ensuring high standards for all
To ensure this, we must narrow the existing gaps for pupils not making adequate progress and ensure that any barriers to success are removed.
- Attending to curriculum shape and subject content
As well as addressing the many improvements needed to ensure excellence in particular curriculum areas, we must make sure the national curriculum does not exceed its intended limits, so that teachers and schools can innovate and provide the important enrichment and support for transferable skills that young people, their parents and employers strongly value.
- Ensuring the curriculum is fit for the future
It is a secure base of knowledge and understanding of our world that will best prepare young people for whatever the future has in store. But the curriculum must be updated so that young people are well prepared - for their future lives but also the changes we already see around us in our climate, technology and world events. We must ensure that the curriculum is fit for purpose and fit for the future.
- Strong pathways for all post-16
While A levels are generally working well, and the new T levels show strong promise, we need to ensure a coherent, high-quality pathway for the large group of young people not taking these pathways. Level 2 provision needs greater clarity and purpose support for post-16 maths and English needs improvement and we need an aspirational, coherent suite of applied Level 3 qualifications for young people for whom A levels or T levels are not the right fit.
4. Avoiding unintended consequences
We have faced many dilemmas in seeking to improve the status quo. Often there are trade-offs between autonomy and mandate, including, for example, between entitlements for all and individual choice; between national and local needs and decision-making; and so on.
There is also an ongoing need to avoid unintended consequences. Making change precipitates knock-on outcomes and risks, sometimes outweighing the benefit. So while problem diagnosis is often easy, finding better solutions is often much harder. And on occasion, the “least worst” option may be the best one!
We have heard about many opportunities for improvement across all key stages, and it is our duty to recommend means to address these without precipitating unintended harms.
5. Our sector benefits from exceptionally deep and extensive expertise on curriculum
It has been truly inspiring to see the level of expertise reflected in so many practitioner submissions to the call for evidence, and in our many school and college visits and wider discussions.
Time and again, international experts have shared how distinctive England is in the curriculum expertise held by its teachers and leaders. This is a strength of which we should be tremendously proud.
Our challenge is to spread this more widely. It has also struck me repeatedly how specialist and technical some aspects of our system are (take our performance measures, for example), and there is, therefore, a need to educate the wider public about the curriculum and assessment system.
As we near the publication of our final report, these reflections exemplify some of the challenges and opportunities in curriculum and assessment reform. I have been clear from the outset that an evidence-led, evolutionary but determined approach can help to remove existing barriers and make necessary improvements to curriculum and assessment - all with the ultimate goal of sparking and maintaining young people’s love of learning, no matter their background.
Professor Becky Francis is leading the government’s curriculum and assessment review
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