Evolution and revolution A 10-year plan to reform the curriculum

As the title of this report suggests, the ‘revolution’ set out in its recommendations – including national online tests in primary and secondary schools and a four-year ‘Baccalaureate’ in secondary schools and colleges – would be delivered as a gradual ‘evolution’ over the course of a decade to ensure that there is enough time to build the new approach to primary and secondary education in England. [...] This new approach to post-16 is the right thing to do for young people today, and the right thing to do for the country in the long term.” 1 Politicians making grandiose claims about their education reforms is hardly a new phenomenon, yet the announcement in October 2023 of the ‘Advanced British Standard’ (ABS) for 16 to 19-year-olds – “a new Baccalaureate-style qualification that takes the best o. [...] To conclude, the report will describe a package of recommendations that would deliver the necessary reforms to the curriculum, assessment and accountability across primary and secondary education while retaining the best aspects of the current arrangements. [...] The recommendations described in the remainder of this chapter will therefore seek to combine the best features of the current primary and secondary education system with a package of reforms that address the worst features of the current system. [...] In one example, the student wishes to gradually specialise in mostly academic subjects, whereas in the other example the student chooses to specialise in technical subjects towards the end of the USB – including a ‘double subject’ that takes up two slots in the USB.