Proposed changes to England’s national curriculum aim to ensure it is fit for the future, writes Professor Becky Francis in her introduction to the final report of the government’s independent curriculum review. The panel that conducted the review sought to address the “rich knowledge and skills young people need to thrive in our fast-changing world”.

From the outset, the review limited itself to “evolution not revolution”, and in the report the changes are described as a “refresh” to the current curriculum rather than a new one. This is understandable given the current challenges education faces of tight budgets and teacher supply.

The present curriculum came into use in 2014. It tended to look more to the past, with the aim to “introduce pupils to the best that has been thought and said”.

The proposed revised curriculum looks more to the future. It expands the idea of a curriculum rich in knowledge to value “applied knowledge”, including life skills.

The review’s recommendations highlight the importance of financial literacy, digital literacy and media literacy, as well as education on climate change and sustainability, as well as oracy (speaking skills).

England is currently an outlier in not including life skills in the curriculum. Other countries, such as Singapore and Estonia, combine high standards with explicitly addressing these skills.

One way of doing this is to treat life skills as a whole in a similar way to a main curriculum subject. The other is to embed them as cross-curriculum themes within all subjects: making sure that every subject includes communication or digital skills.

The report is notable for recommending more of a hybrid approach. Citizenship is currently only taught as a subject in secondary schools, but in future will be taught in primary schools too. In both secondary and primary schools many of these life skills will be taught in citizenship lessons.

Some skills will be more explicitly addressed as part of other subjects, such as financial literature literacy? in maths and digital literacy in computing. But a new oracy framework will support communication skills across the whole curriculum.

The review proposes learning in financial skills and media literacy. Jacob Lund/Shutterstock

The curriculum assessment review also uses recommendations specific to school subjects to promote a new way of combining knowledge and skills. Many of these changes are about addressing inconsistencies, gaps or weaknesses in the current subject curricula.

What counts as important cultural knowledge is expanded from the current curriculum to reflect current times and the diverse nation we live in. This is reflected in changes in the English curriculum with the inclusion of modern texts with authors from more diverse backgrounds.

Knowledge, the review recommends, should be “powerful” to support young people to collectively address the issues they face. This does not mean a dramatic rewriting of each subject curriculum but translates, in some subjects, to a shift in emphasis. This includes highlighting to pupils how relevant certain content is to their lives and to give them more opportunity to use what they know.

A standout way in which skills are valued in the report are recommendations in 16-19 curriculum and assessment. The introduction of new V-levels, already proposed in the government’s recent post-16 education and skills policy paper, intends to allow students to combine vocational and academic learning.

Other changes in the post-16 sector, such as different ways to support young people to gain GCSE-equivalent maths and English qualifications, also recognise that qualifications designed partly as gateways to A-level study are not appropriate for all learners.

These recommendations might well improve the experience of learners, in particular those who find secondary school demotivating. But the proposals in the curriculum review are limited. They are unlikely to do much to address the needs of those young people who are far from thriving in the current system.

The review notes the comparatively good performance by England on international tests. However, the same tests indicate that young people in England report low levels of life satisfaction. Enjoyment of school is falling, and school is affecting young people’s mental health.

The report’s final recommendation is for another review in ten years’ time. Even if the report is fully implemented, it is likely that in ten years a significant number of young people will still not be thriving in school. To address that we may need a much more fundamental curriculum change.