Strengthening Literacy - Key Updates from the Curriculum and Assessment Review

Earlier this month, we saw the publication the Curriculum and Assessment Review final report.  

The government has responded to the report, welcoming the review’s recommendations and confirming how it intends to take the reforms forward. 

Next steps  include: 

• Publishing a revised national curriculum in 2027 for first teaching in 2028. We will also update our GCSEs, for first teaching from 2029 onwards.  
• Ensuring there is greater clarity and specificity throughout the English curriculum, particularly for speaking, listening and drama. 
• Creating a new oracy framework so that pupils become confident, fluent speakers and listeners by the end of primary. This will complement the existing reading framework and writing framework.  
• Improving the assessment of writing at key stage 2 so that it has a greater focus on fluent writing.  
• Publishing a new combined secondary oracy, reading and writing framework.  
• Supporting schools to draw on a range of high-quality products to assess pupil progress in writing in Year 8.  
• Introducing a new statutory reading test in Year 8, designed to check both fluency and comprehension. 
• Making significant changes to the Key Stage 4 English Programme of Study and the GCSE English Language subject content, to focus more clearly on the nature and expression of language, and to support critical analysis of a wider variety of text types and genres. 
• Reviewing the genres specified in the English Key Stage 4 Programme of Study and GCSE English Literature subject content to ensure more diverse and representative texts, while continuing to study texts from the recognised body of English Literature.

Read the government's response Curriculum and Assessment Review Final Report: government response - GOV.UK