Curriculum and Assessment Review: Where We Are Now

Since the publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review, we've received a number of questions from schools asking what it means for the Learning Challenge Curriculum and our curriculum publications and whether they should be making changes now.

The short answer is: not yet.

Like many curriculum providers and school leaders, we are waiting for further detail from the Department for Education before making any significant changes to curriculum content. While the Review provides a clear direction of travel, there is currently insufficient detail to justify rewriting curriculum plans before the final recommendations and any subsequent statutory guidance are published.

Our Approach

At Focus Education, we've always believed that curriculum development should be driven by educational evidence and national expectations—not by speculation.

For that reason, we won't be making changes simply because a review has been published. Instead, we'll continue to monitor developments closely and, when the Department for Education provides greater clarity, we'll ensure that the Learning Challenge Curriculum and any curriculum material we publish reflects any new statutory requirements and curriculum expectations.

We're Already Well Positioned

The encouraging news is that many of the principles highlighted within the Curriculum and Assessment Review are already embedded throughout the Learning Challenge Curriculum.

Over the past two years, we've continued to invest significantly in developing the curriculum, including:

  • Strengthening progression in both substantive and disciplinary knowledge.
  • Introducing Golden Threads across History, Geography and Science.
  • Building stronger links to prior learning and retrieval practice.
  • Developing progression that supports pupils in remembering more over time.
  • Expanding curriculum coverage with our Design & Technology and PSHCE curricula.
  • Continuing to enhance subject resources, assessments and supporting materials.

Many of the Review's themes—such as building coherent knowledge, ensuring appropriate diversity and representation, and supporting curriculum progression—are therefore already reflected within the Learning Challenge Curriculum.

What Happens Next?

Once the Department for Education publishes further detail, we'll carefully review every recommendation.

Where changes are required, we'll update the Learning Challenge Curriculum accordingly and subscribers will automatically receive those updates as part of their subscription.

Where our existing curriculum already aligns with the new expectations, we'll explain how and why, giving schools confidence that they are already well prepared.

Our aim has always been to help schools build ambitious, coherent and manageable curricula—not to ask schools to continually rewrite their curriculum unless there is a genuine educational need.

Stay Informed

If you'd like to explore the Curriculum and Assessment Review in more detail, we've already published a series of subject-specific blogs explaining what the Review means for primary schools and how the Learning Challenge Curriculum already aligns with many of its emerging priorities.

You may find these helpful:

We've also recently published:

As always, we'll continue to keep customers informed through our newsletters, webinars and website as further information becomes available.