Earlier this month, the UK government published the conclusions and recommendations of an independent review of the curriculum, assessment, and qualifications system in England. This article summarises the key findings from the review, with a particular focus on maths and science.
Why did this review take place?
In July 2024, the government commissioned Professor Beck Francis CBE to convene and chair a panel of experts to examine the curriculum and assessment system in England, including qualification pathways across primary, secondary, and 16–19 education.
The last national curriculum review took place in 2014. Although the education system has seen many improvements over the past decade, it was time to take a fresh look. The aim is to ensure that students continue to develop the knowledge and skills needed to prosper beyond school, and that every young person—regardless of background—has the best possible chance to succeed.
The UK continues to perform strongly in maths, science, and reading compared with other nations. For example, in the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the UK ranked 12th overall. These positive results highlight the strengths of the current system while reinforcing the importance of regular reviews to ensure the curriculum remains relevant in our rapidly changing world.
Global changes
Focus on skills for life and work
The new curriculum proposals place greater emphasis on skills that go beyond traditional academic learning, such as oracy, critical thinking, and creativity. As part of this shift, Citizenship would become compulsory in primary education, ensuring all pupils develop essential knowledge in areas such as media literacy, financial literacy, and government.
Increased emphasis on literacy and communication
Revised national tests and frameworks would aim to ensure all pupils leave school with strong literacy and communication skills, including digital and data literacy. This is intended to help students navigate a technology-driven society and critically assess misinformation and online harms.
Assessment reform
The review proposes exploring alternative assessment methods and potentially reducing the number of exams. The goal is to lessen the burden on students and schools while ensuring assessments more accurately reflect pupils’ knowledge and skills.
Mathematics changes
Reducing overlap
The review found significant repetition across year groups, with some concepts introduced too early or too late. Proposed changes include re-sequencing content across Key Stages 1–3 so pupils develop a deeper mastery of concepts and unnecessary repetition is removed.
For example, financial education currently appears across Citizenship and PSHE but is not consistently linked to maths. The proposed model introduces key financial concepts first in maths before applying them later in Citizenship.
Enhancing diagnostic assessments
Current KS2 tests emphasise procedural knowledge over reasoning. The review recommends redesigning assessments to better test mental arithmetic and reasoning.
Multiplication table checks should remain, but be made more accessible for pupils with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND).
Additionally, the review highlights the absence of a consistent diagnostic assessment in KS3. It proposes introducing a diagnostic test to identify and address gaps before KS4.
Strengthening mathematical reasoning progression
Progression from additive to multiplicative, to proportional, and to algebraic reasoning is currently unclear to students. The review recommends making this progression explicit and intentional across year groups. This is vital, as students lacking strong multiplicative or proportional reasoning rarely achieve a grade 4 at GCSE.
Global science changes
Repetition from KS2 and KS3
Repetition stems from poor sequencing and inconsistent depth of coverage. The review recommends clearer guidance on what to teach—and to what depth—at each stage, as well as stronger cross-curricular links to avoid unnecessary duplication.
Uneven distribution of some topics
Some scientific topics are taught too lightly while others are over-emphasised. Content needs rebalancing so biology, chemistry, and physics progress coherently into KS3.
Climate science is one example: current teaching is limited, outdated, and often siloed. The review recommends integrating climate science across all scientific disciplines and updating outdated content.
Practical work
Students report inconsistency in the quality and expectations of practical work at KS3 and KS4. The review calls for clearer, more explicit guidance on the purpose and expectations of practical work across all stages.
Misinformation and scientific literacy
While scientific literacy is embedded in the curriculum, key skills such as evaluating evidence, analysing scientific claims, and understanding media sources need to be taught more explicitly.
Specific science changes
Biology
Primary education currently focuses heavily on a small selection of biology topics, with weak progression into secondary school. Areas such as the human body, ecosystems, and lifecycles are often overemphasised. The review recommends a more balanced and clearly sequenced foundation leading into KS3, with streamlined content and clearer expectations for the depth topics should be taught at.
Chemistry
Topics such as states of matter and materials are frequently repeated in KS3 with limited conceptual development, while some content such as combustion and energy is outdated. The review suggests clarifying what should be mastered in primary school versus KS3, updating outdated material, and improving the sequencing and purpose of practical chemistry.
Physics
There is significant overlap in areas such as forces and electricity between KS2 and KS3, often taught at inconsistent depths. Conversely, energy systems and climate mechanisms receive insufficient attention. As in other sciences, practical work varies in quality and lacks clear guidance. The review recommends a clearer conceptual sequence, explicit integration of climate physics across KS3 and KS4, and more consistent expectations for high-quality physics work.
Triple Science
Access to Triple Science currently depends heavily on school resources, meaning not all pupils have the opportunity to study it. Around 9% of state-funded mainstream secondary schools do not offer Triple Science, and some young people are directed to take Combined Science instead. A department for education survey found that 8% of students in Years 10 and 11 were discouraged from taking Triple Science, while 5% had no choice in the matter. The review recommends establishing an entitlement so that any pupil who wishes to take Triple Science at GCSE can do so.
Uptake has also been declining—from 27% in 2018/19 to 23% in 2024/25. Yet students who take Triple Science are 3.9 times more likely to study at least one science A-level, and 1.8 times more likely to pursue a science subject at degree level.
This can then have an impact on life after formal education. When controlling for prior attainment and demographics, students achieving at least one grade A/7 in Triple Science have slightly higher lifetime earnings than those achieving the same grade in Combined Science. The lifetime earnings return for achieving at least a grade C/4 in Triple Science is also substantially higher compared with achieving the same grade in Combined Science.
Changes in assessments in KS3 and KS4
The review found that assessment volume is increasing across many subjects, while some subjects are also shifting toward fewer components. In addition, non-exam assessments are sometimes used inappropriately, even when they are not the most valid method of assessing skills.
The recommendations propose reducing overall exam load while maintaining reliability. All subjects should retain at least two exam components, and non-exam assessments should only be included where they are the most appropriate and meaningful way to assess specific skills. The review also highlights the need to redesign assessments in a way that mitigates risks associated with generative AI.
When will these changes take place?
The review advises the government to take a “staged approach” and develop a long-term plan for implementing changes, to minimise disruptions for current cohorts. The final curriculum is expected to be published in Spring 2027, with first teaching of the new curriculum likely beginning in September 2028. The first examinations under the new system would then take place in May 2030.
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