Government responds to curriculum and assessment review

17 November 2025

The UK government recently published its official response to a year-long curriculum and assessment review, revealing that most recommendations will be accepted in full.

A detailed consultation is set to be released in Spring 2026 and the new official curriculum will be published in 2027 before it is implemented in schools from September 2028. Changes to GCSEs will be introduced later, in Autumn 2029.

Revisions to the subject of English include a new curriculum of one Shakespeare play, one 19th century novel, poetry and fiction or drama from the British Isles from 1914 onwards. The new regime appears to prioritise oracy, focusing on media literacy and drama. The English language GCSE is also set to be modernised by looking at “transient” texts such as blogs, emails and newspapers over traditional novels.

Changes to other subjects include:

• History – Content will be “suitably modernised and refreshed” to “paint a picture of a modern and forward-looking Britain”.
  • The Holocaust will remain a compulsory topic, but the new curriculum will be diversified to both mirror modern society and provide a “window through which every child is connected to the world beyond their existing horizons”.
  • For example, pupils could learn about cotton mills in Lancashire and Yorkshire during the Industrial Revolution or the Bristol bus boycott of the 1960s.
• Computer science GCSE will be replaced with a broader qualification and students will be taught AI literacy, how to use data to complete tasks and solve problems and bias in technology. A new A-level equivalent qualification could be developed in data science and AI.
• There will be a new “enrichment” entitlement, during and after the school day. Every child will be able to choose from civic engagement:
  • Arts and culture (nature, outdoor and adventure)
  • Sport and physical activity
  • Developing wider life skills.
• Religious education, set to be renamed, will join the national curriculum for the first time. Faith groups will be expected to work together to help draw up a new syllabus. Humanists UK said it was the biggest shake-up of RE since the 1980s and that the subject would now be taught in a consistent and balanced manner.
• The English baccalaureate (EBacc) will be scrapped to reduce pressure on schools.

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