This week it was announced that the Department for Education will scrap the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) performance measure, accepting recommendations from the curriculum and assessment review chaired by Professor Becky Francis.

But the government is also going one step further. Because while Francis’ review recommends retaining Progress 8 with no changes to its structure or subject composition - other than renaming the EBacc slot “academic breadth” - the government has announced significant reform of this performance measure.

Here is everything you need to know about the proposed changes.

What is Progress 8?

Progress 8 was introduced in 2016 by the Conservative government.

It is a performance indicator used to measure the academic progress that students make at secondary school, calculated by comparing a child’s performance in key stage 2 Sats with their performance in eight GCSE subjects, then comparing this progress to that of others nationwide. These scores are averaged to find a number for the whole school.

A positive Progress 8 score means a school’s students have made more progress than others with similar prior attainment, while a negative score means they have made less.

How does Progress 8 work now?

Currently, the measure is based on students’ progress across eight subjects: English, mathematics, three other EBacc subjects (sciences, computer science, geography, history or languages), and three further subjects, which can be EBacc subjects or other approved, high-value arts, academic or vocational qualifications.

Maths is double-weighted. English is also double-weighted, so long as a student takes both English literature and English language, and in this case their highest score is what is doubled.

This is illustrated here:

What are the proposed changes?

The government proposes to restructure the subject buckets, retaining the current slots for English and maths - and their double-weighting - while introducing two dedicated science slots and four breadth slots.

That looks like this:

How do the science slots work?

These slots will take the two highest point scores from GCSEs in combined science (double award), biology, chemistry, physics, computer science or computing.

Because combined science is equivalent to two GCSEs, points for that subject will be averaged. For example, a grade of a 5 and a 6 would be averaged to two 5.5 scores. These could fill either or two of the slots.

How do the breadth slots work?

The breadth slots could be separated further into 5 and 6, and 7 and 8.

Slots 5 and 6 must be filled by subjects from two of these three categories:

1. Humanities: geography, history, religious studies
2. Creative: art and design, music, drama, dance, design and technology
3. Languages: modern foreign languages and ancient languages

Slots 7 and 8 will take the two highest scores in any subjects. These could be English language or literature (if not counted in the English slot); other GCSE subjects eligible but not counted in slots 3, 4, 5 and 6; or any approved technical awards. A full list of qualifications is available here.

Are there any other technicalities?

If a student takes more than eight subjects, it is their highest grades that are relevant for Progress 8.

If a student takes fewer than eight subjects or doesn’t take a qualification necessary to fill the relevant slot, they receive zero for the relevant slots.

How might this look in practice?

The DfE has laid out a number of examples of how this might work.

For example, the subject structure of a student who enjoys humanities and languages might look like this:

While for a student who enjoys the arts, it might look like this:

And for a student who favours science, it might look like this:

Will the sector be able to have its say on these ideas?

The government will open a consultation on these proposals.

Specifically, it says it is interested in hearing views on an additional category for science within the four breadth slots, alongside humanities, creative arts and languages. This would include biology, chemistry, physics, combined science and computer science. It could also include design and technology, instead of it sitting in the creative category.

The government says this additional science category would not affect the other dedicated science slots. This option would allow more student choice and specialisation in science. However, it might weaken incentives to study a truly broad curriculum including subjects from the other three categories.

Such a set-up might mean a student’s subject structure looks like this:

What is the rationale for these changes?

The current Progress 8 system has long been the subject of criticism, particularly in terms of its sidelining of the arts, with some arguing that by focusing overwhelmingly on EBacc subjects it has disincentivised arts subjects, leading to their long-term decline.

Indeed, the DfE believes the current Progress 8 structure has “hampered progress in subjects which strengthen our economy and society, for example the arts”. This is why the new proposals include the creative arts on an equal footing with humanities and languages.

It adds that the proposed structure “balances a strong academic core with breadth and student choice”.

When will these changes come into effect?

The government says it will consult on the proposals in “due course”.

It adds that it will publish its response in the summer term of 2026, so that schools can take the revisions into account when assisting students with subject choices for the start of the 2027-28 academic year.

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