In July 2024, the government commissioned Professor Becky Francis CBE to convene and chair a panel of experts to conduct the Curriculum and Assessment Review. The Curriculum and Assessment Review interim report was published on March 18, 2025, about a month and a half after the publication of our own interim report, as part of the Shadow Review.
We appreciate Professor Becky Francis CBE and the expert Panel’s efforts in producing their interim report and setting out the review’s initial findings and next steps. The report includes detailed evidence and it’s fantastic to see its recognition of the need for change to create an enriching education that empowers all young people, regardless of background, and equips them for the future.
Our interim report focused on the five most prominent topics from our research: assessments, relevance to life, inclusion, climate and nature, and practical learning. We have reviewed the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report to see if, where, and how these themes are mentioned. Some of our concerns overlapped, including the fact that the system is not working well for all young people.
Assessments
Both reports acknowledge the benefits of a variety of assessment methods, including the importance of examined assessment, but also the stress it can put students under and the impact of this on students’ mental health and wellbeing. The Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report acknowledgment of this stress — citing that 51%-55% of students find it difficult to cope with stress during the exam period (page 40) — and their potential consideration of reducing the volume of assessment gives us hope that exams will be altered in the future to help reduce these levels of stress.
However, it is still unclear what the changes to assessment will look like and we don’t expect any major changes (e.g. it is stated that “there will be no changes to the number of subjects that students study or are assessed in at GCSE”), but the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report states that “there are opportunities for the Review to ensure that assessment is fit for purpose, that the content, volume and frequency of assessments are not unnecessarily burdensome for students or teachers, and that the assessment system captures learning in a way that is fair, reliable and inclusive. We will also explore ways of ensuring that our assessment system is properly inclusive of all students, particularly those with SEND.”
The Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report also shows that young people do see the value in assessments, but students spend too much time rote learning at the expense of depth of understanding. This was very prominent in our own separate research, and we hope that it will be looked into further in the next stages of the Review, so that assessments in future reflect the diverse ways in which students learn and achieve, as well as making the process as fair as possible for all students.
Relevance to Life
It is important to keep the curriculum as up-to-date as possible so students feel that what they are learning has some relevance to everyday life. Our interim report highlighted this, as many young people shared with us that they do not learn “useful skills”, nor feel prepared for their futures. This has clearly been echoed by many others in the Government’s Call for Evidence, as their interim report states that “too many young people are not gaining the right knowledge and skills as they progress through the system and by the time they leave formal education are not prepared to thrive in life and work”, and it was acknowledged that many employers agree that young people are not well-prepared for the move from education to work.
The Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report does not go into much detail about what kind of skills could be further developed, only briefly mentioning some hard skills like digital, finance, and budgeting skills. Whilst one of our key recommendations in our interim report focused on more financial literacy, we had a greater focus on soft skills and recommended to “integrate citizenship skills such as teamwork, critical thinking, resilience, analytical skills, empathy, debate, and problem-solving into the curriculum”. We think a curriculum that encourages and embeds these skills is really important as they are transferable skills which will be useful anywhere and will prepare young people for future studies, work and life.
In the Review’s next stages, as they look more closely into individual subjects, we hope that they will also include topics including climate change, social justice, finances, technology, health and wellbeing, cookery, and political literacy in their considerations, as young people have shared that these are areas that would help to make their education more relevant to life and help them thrive and pursue their own interests and strengths.
Inclusion
Our interim report advocates for a curriculum that reflects diverse perspectives and cultures, ensuring all students feel represented and helping to foster more tolerance and respect for differences. It is really positive that there is significant recognition of this, too, within the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report and that it has clearly been a common issue raised in their Call for Evidence. Again, it is not clear what the changes will look like, but the Review has stated that “as part of our subject review work, we will look across the curriculum to examine where opportunities exist to increase diversity in representation, and to ensure that the curriculum facilitates a fostering of inclusivity and challenge to discrimination.” To align with our key recommendations, we hope this will include better addressing Britain’s colonial history and that racial, religious, gender, disability, and sexual identities will all be included when increasing diversity.
We also highlighted in our interim report the importance of inclusive assessment methods and recommended that curriculum content on mental health, SEND, and neurodiversity should be introduced, as well as dedicated staff to support related student needs. Whilst Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report acknowledged the education gaps for learners with SEND and have committed to “explore ways of ensuring that our assessment system is properly inclusive of all students, particularly those with SEND”, it does not mention education gaps for neurodiverse students or does not indicate that there will be any changes to curriculum content to help children and young people to better understand neurodiversity, their mental health, wellbeing, or emotions. We know this is important to young people and hope it will be considered in the specific subject reviews, with young people consulted, especially those who don’t fit into the traditional education system, as many of these young people have shared that school hadn’t worked for them because it hadn’t been built with neurodivergent students in mind.
Climate and Nature
The urgent need for climate and nature education was strongly emphasised in our interim report, as many young people expressed that current learning is inadequate and that they want to learn about these topics across all subjects. Informed by our own separate call for evidence, our recommendations call for climate change and sustainability to be integrated across all subjects, in a solutions-centred way; ensuring text books and exams are kept up-to-date with climate science; and to facilitate more learning about, and connection with, nature.
The interim report commissioned by the Government makes one brief mention of sustainability and climate science, with no mention of nature. While it seems that the Review will consider these topics further in their next stages, suggesting the curriculum should place ‘a greater focus’ on them, it is uncertain what their approach will be.
Some young people have already shared with us that they are concerned the changes will focus on more climate science in science and geography. Yet, they want to see climate and nature education embedded across all subjects, and in a solutions-centred way.
As the Review moves into the next stage, which will look more closely at issues within each subject, we think this could be an opportunity to see how, and where to integrate sustainability, climate, and nature across the curriculum — not just as climate science but also through social and justice perspectives. This will help to equip young people with a deeper understanding of these issues while preparing them with solutions relevant to their interests and futures, empowering students to drive positive change at local, national, and global levels.
Practical learning
We are advocating for more practical learning and in our interim report made recommendations on there being more training and support for teachers; greater project-based learning; making arts subjects compulsory post 14; and more outdoor learning. In our recent roadshows, there has also been consistent feedback on the enjoyment and importance of sport and physical activity which we therefore hope will remain integral in all levels of education, given their significant physical, mental, social, and psychological benefits, which are vital to the development and well-being of young people.
We recognise that pedagogy and teacher training are not currently in scope of the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report, and therefore there isn’t really mention of the way we learn. However, research referred to in the report indicated that others, including learners, parents and organisations, would like more focus on problem-solving projects and for practical skills to be included in a greater diversity of assessment methods.
As the Youth Shadow Panel, we will continue to champion these issues and the essential changes that young people are calling for. Looking ahead, we are eager to continue working with the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report to complement their next steps, contribute to more specific solutions, and to help youth voices feed into the Review.