The government will scrap the English Baccalaureate and aim to make triple science GCSE standard as part of curriculum and assessment reforms, the Department for Education has confirmed.

The DfE has accepted a number of recommendations from its landmark curriculum and assessment review, published late tonight.

In line with review lead Professor Becky Francis’ report, the government will also introduce a new oracy framework in both primary and secondary and revamp the computer science GCSE, among a host of recommendations.

Professor Francis, along with an expert panel, also calls for a reduction in exam time by at least 10 per cent and for religious education to be mandatory.

Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with Tes, Professor Francis described the two announcements about Year 8 English assessment - both the government and the review have separately proposed Key Stage 3 English tests - as “unfortunate”.

While the government has tonight announced a number of changes relating to the curriculum and assessment review, it has not responded to all of the report’s recommendations.

New curriculum from 2028

Labour pledged to carry out the review in its election manifesto in 2024, and today’s report says that there should not be another review of its type for a decade.

The government will aim to publish the final revised national curriculum by spring 2027, it said tonight. The new curriculum will be implemented in full from September 2028.

The review envisages the national curriculum as a “digital product” that will help teachers to “navigate content easily and to see and make connections across key stages and disciplines”.

It also includes considerable detail on proposed changes for individual subjects, which Tes has examined here.

Here are key points from both the Francis review report published tonight and the government’s response:

1. Removing EBacc performance measure

As recommended by the review, the DfE will scrap the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) performance measure.

The EBacc measures the number of students entering GCSEs in: English language and literature, maths, sciences, geography or history, and a language.

It was introduced by former education secretary Michael Gove in 2010, but has been criticised for encouraging a limited view of the curriculum.

The DfE said that this change follows the “failure of the EBacc measure to encourage take-up of subjects including languages and constraining student choice”.

A DfE spokesperson said tonight that the EBacc performance measure had “to some degree unnecessarily constrained students’ choices”, which had “affected their engagement and achievement, and limited their access to, and the time available for, arts and vocational subjects”.

The review recommends retaining both the Progress 8 and Attainment 8 performance measures - which measure schools on students’ progress since they started secondary school - with “no changes to its structure or subject composition”.

However, the DfE said that it will “reform Progress 8”. Tes has asked how it plans to do this.

2. Triple science for all

The review calls for an “entitlement” to triple science at GCSE, which would mean that any student who wants to study triple science has the opportunity to do so - a proposal backed by the DfE tonight.

However, the DfE is yet to say how it will support schools to do this. Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), while supportive of the idea in principle, tonight highlighted “severe difficulties”, including the “dire” recruitment of physics teachers into postgraduate initial teacher training.

The government will also explore a new qualification for students aged 16-18 in data science and artificial intelligence.

Part of this will involve replacing the “narrowly focused computer science GCSE” with a “broader, future-facing computing GCSE”, the DfE said.

3. Oracy framework

The review calls for the government to introduce an oracy framework - the first recommendation mentioned in tonight’s Francis report. This framework would “complement the existing frameworks for reading and writing”.

In response, the government has specified that it will launch a new primary oracy framework and a new combined secondary oracy, reading and writing framework.

It said that this will ensure more young people become confident and effective speakers, and help teachers to “strengthen their teaching of oracy through practical tips, tried-and-tested strategies and examples of best practice”.

This comes after a commission on the future of oracy education made a series of recommendations to the government in 2024.

4. Separate Year 8 English reading test

The review proposes a key stage 3 English test to diagnose gaps, as Professor Francis told Tes in an interview today.

This is despite the government announcing a separate Year 8 English test just last month.

The government has also said it will strengthen the existing writing assessment in Year 6 to identify pupils who need extra support.

5. Replacing Spag test

Professor Francis’ review proposes replacing the key stage 2 grammar, punctuation and spelling test with an amended test, with new tasks to “better assess composition and application” of grammar and punctuation.

“The DfE may wish to consider whether the role of the test in accountability should remain as stands, or whether any changes, such as including the new test in headline measures, should be explored,” the review adds.

The NAHT school leaders’ union said it was “immensely disappointing” that the review did not recommend cutting back on primary tests.
 
“These take up a disproportionate amount of time and place enormous strain on children and teachers for little obvious benefit,” the union said.

6. Primary tests to be more accessible for SEND

The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) should work with the government to explore approaches for assessing progress for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) that make the phonics screening check “inaccessible”, the review says.

The same should be done for the multiplication tables check, it adds.

7. Emphasis on KS1 writing fluency

The review also recommends that the STA works with the DfE to find ways to encourage take-up of optional key stage 1 assessments.

The review suggests the development of an “improved teacher assessment framework” to provide teachers with clarity and include a “greater focus on writing fluency”.

8. Reducing exam time

The government should work with Ofqual to reduce overall key stage 4 exam time by at least 10 per cent, the review proposes, and “go further than this where possible”.

The DfE has advised that it envisages working with Ofqual and exam boards to reduce GCSE exam time by 2.5 to three hours for the average student.

A range of options should be explored within each subject to seek to minimise exam length, the review says, while ensuring “minimal negative impact on reliability, fairness, teaching and learning and system resilience”.

The review also suggests that Ofqual and the DfE introduce a design principle that considers the volume of exam assessment “as a priority”.

Each subject should retain at least two assessment components, it adds.

9. Reviewing GCSEs for diversity

All programmes of study should be reviewed and updated to ensure a “stronger representation of the diversity that makes up our modern society, allowing more children to see themselves in the curriculum”, the review states. This should include corresponding GCSE subject content where appropriate.

10. Year 8 maths test

The review recommends a diagnostic test for maths, also in Year 8. This would help teachers to “identify and deal with any weaknesses before students progress to key stage 4”.

For the existing non-statutory maths test in key stage 1, the STA should work with the DfE to refine it and encourage more schools to use it.

11. Integrating RE into the curriculum

Religious education should become part of the national curriculum, and it should be introduced in a “staged approach”, according to the review.

Firstly, the DfE should invite the sector to form a group convened and led by an expert chair who is “independent of any particular secular or faith group interest or representation”.

The review recommends that Dr Vanessa Ogden, CEO of Mulberry Schools Trust, take up this role, “given her leadership of this strand of the review’s work”.

Dr Ogden was on the review’s panel and has recently been announced as London’s regional commissioner.

The DfE should also review the non-statutory guidance for RE, which has not been updated since 2010, to establish whether beneficial changes to subject content could be made in the short term, the review adds.

The NAHT union welcomed the recommendation, saying: “NAHT has been clear that the local decisions on the RE curriculum lead to big differences and inconsistency in content and pupil experience.”

12. Enrichment entitlement

Though it was not a review recommendation, the government has announced a new core enrichment entitlement, offering all pupils access to civic engagement, arts and culture, nature and adventure, sport and life skills.

The government will publish a set of “enrichment benchmarks”, with schools asked to ensure that every child has access to activities across five categories. Ofsted will consider, as part of routine inspection, whether this expectation is being met.

However, ASCL has already questioned how this will be resourced, and said the policy was “randomly announced” tonight.

13. Mandatory citizenship

Another new government policy not mentioned in the Francis report is to make citizenship compulsory in primary.

This will ensure that all pupils cover media literacy and financial literacy, law and rights, democracy and government, and climate education.

14. Modern foreign language qualification

The government also said it will explore a new modern foreign language qualification, which “banks progress and motivates pupils to want to continue studying, complementing existing GCSEs and A levels”.

In a briefing with journalists before the report’s launch tonight, Professor Francis said that she did not agree with the government sharing the results of its proposed Year 8 reading test with Ofsted.

She said that the report’s recommended tests for English and maths are not viewed by her as part of performance measures, as “we see them as being a tool for teachers”.

Professor Francis also said that the recommendation for a triple science entitlement would allow time for schools to “develop support and facilitate that, but also take other mechanisms to address implementation”.

On diversifying GCSEs, she said: “We must not have any situation where particular cohorts get a localised curriculum that only speaks to them and that cuts off their broader life chances and cultural capital.”

A number of sector figures have welcome the review.

Sir Jon Coles, CEO of United Learning, welcomed that it “sets out how improvements to the curriculum will contribute to improvements in the school system and to young people’s preparedness for an unpredictable future”.

Meanwhile, Becks Boomer-Clark, CEO of Lift Schools, said the review was “an important step towards addressing the engagement challenges that many schools are facing”. 

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