In a Keynote webinar for the Rethinking Assessment Practice Network, Reza Schwitzer, AQA’s Director of Assessment Reform, shared reflections on the future of curriculum and assessment in England. Speaking only weeks into his new role, Reza offered a thoughtful and grounded perspective – one rooted in realism rather than radicalism, but still full of possibility for a more inclusive and future-facing assessment system.
What emerged was a vision for assessment that doesn’t discard exams, but rebalances the system so it works better for all students. It is a vision of steady, thoughtful change: strengthening what already works, addressing deep-rooted inequities, and using technology in purposeful, ethical ways.
What follows is a vision for steady, meaningful improvement: strengthening what works, widening opportunity, and integrating technology and innovation in ways that genuinely support teaching and learning. This is a call for collaboration across the system.
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Reza Schwitzer, AQA’s Director of Assessment Reform
Having spent time listening to school leaders, teachers, and policy voices across the country, I am increasingly convinced that we have a real opportunity ahead of us for a thoughtful, hopeful recalibration of curriculum and assessment in England.
Change Within the Existing Paradigm
As we head toward the forthcoming Curriculum and Assessment Review, I sense broad alignment across the sector: we need change, but not rupture. GCSEs and A levels are likely to remain the backbone of the system. Exams will continue to play an important role. But it’s clear that the balance has tipped too far in one direction, particularly since earlier reforms.
For me, the key word is rebalancing.
We can hold on to the strengths of the current model – clarity, comparability, trust – while making deliberate space for a broader range of knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Many teachers tell me that across a range of subjects, over-packed content makes it harder to introduce relevant learning like digital literacy or climate education.
These concerns are real and longstanding. They need addressing. But doing so doesn’t require tearing everything up; rather, it requires careful work within the existing paradigm, rooted in the realities of classroom practice.
This is where I see hope. Change is needed, yes – but we can make that change by building on what already works.
Tackling Inequity: Moving Beyond Surface Solutions
Equity is a thread running through so many conversations I’ve had. In subjects like English, for example, simply adding more diverse texts hasn’t had the impact we hoped. Around 85% of our centres still teach a single text – An Inspector Calls – despite the availability of newer texts.
That’s not because teachers don’t care about representation – far from it. It’s because real-world pressures shape behaviour: confidence, familiarity, resourcing, performance measures.
If we want reform to shift outcomes, we must address the practical barriers head-on. That means working directly with schools, understanding the dynamics behind choices, and designing change that feels achievable, not abstract.
The same is true for structural inequities within core subjects. Take GCSE maths and English: the “standard pass” creates a sharp divide, and many young people with strong practical skills find that the current system doesn’t give them a meaningful way to demonstrate them. If assessment is to widen opportunity, we need to rethink how different kinds of capability are recognised, not by lowering standards, but by broadening what we value.
Assessment should be a gateway, not a gatekeeper. That principle underpins all the work ahead.
Technology: Not Whether, But How
It’s impossible to talk about the future of assessment without acknowledging the role of technology. But the conversation must start with the right question: what problems are we trying to solve?
In many sectors, technology has changed how we work but hasn’t always improved outcomes. Education is no different. Technology used unthinkingly can widen gaps; technology used thoughtfully can strengthen teaching and fairness.
Our focus is on purposeful, evidence-driven adoption – not novelty for its own sake.
That means:
- identifying the specific challenge
- understanding the needs of teachers and students
- mapping risks and benefits
- ensuring solutions enhance, not distort, learning
The question is not whether technology will play a role, but how we integrate it in ways that elevate teaching and maintain trust in the system.
Diagnostic Assessment That Supports Teaching
One area where I believe technology genuinely strengthens practice is in diagnostic adaptive assessments. Our adaptive GCSE maths assessment, AQA Stride, is a good example. Rather than replicating GCSE-style items, these assessments dig into the conceptual roots of a student’s misunderstanding – even when those roots go back to early primary content.
Teachers tell us this helps them see difficulties with far greater clarity. Thousands of students have already used the tool, whether learning for the first time or as a resit – and we’ve been encouraged by the early case studies.
This isn’t about replacing exams. It’s about assessment in service of learning – helping teachers identify the building blocks that need attention and tailoring support accordingly. If scaled across subjects, tools like this could also help inform national conversations about curriculum design.
This is the kind of innovation I believe in: grounded, practical, and directly connected to classroom realities.
New Pathways for Numeracy, Literacy and Digital Literacy
Another strand of our work explores how we might create parallel, equally rigorous ways for students to demonstrate essential “life skills”, particularly in numeracy and digital literacy.
For numeracy, the aim is to develop an assessment that:
- reflects everyday contexts like payslips, overdrafts and mortgages
- combines maths knowledge with applied decision-making
- offers a meaningful pathway for students not served well by the current model
- is on-demand, auto-marked, and certificate-style
This is not about lowering expectations. It’s about recognising different forms of capability that matter in adult life.
The same logic applies to digital literacy. Families, teachers, and employers are all concerned about online safety, misinformation, and the competencies young people need for a digital future. A universal digital literacy certification – complementing, not competing with, GCSE computer science – could offer a shared foundation.
These ideas feel both ambitious and achievable because they work alongside existing qualifications, not against them.
The Future of Digital Exams
There are understandable sensitivities around digital GCSEs and A levels. But I believe that, over time, digital options will become both necessary and beneficial – if introduced thoughtfully.
The potential advantages are significant:
- better accessibility through built-in adjustments
- assessment that feels more authentic to the world they’re going to live and work in
- reduced administrative burden for centres
- richer question types in subjects where appropriate
This isn’t about eliminating exams. It’s about modernising them so that they continue to command public trust while serving the needs of today’s learners.
The pace matters. We need to move carefully, collaboratively, and with a focus on fairness. But standing still is not an option.
A Hopeful, Pragmatic Future
My reflections so far leave me genuinely optimistic about what’s possible. We don’t need to choose between stability and innovation; we can have both. We can preserve the strengths of our qualifications while making them more inclusive, more relevant, and more aligned with the skills young people need for their futures.
The way forward, I believe, lies in:
- rebalancing curriculum and assessment
- tackling inequities with honesty and ambition
- adopting technology purposefully
- creating new pathways alongside existing qualifications
- ensuring exams evolve, not ossify
This is not sudden disruption. It is steady, meaningful improvement – and it will take all of us.
I look forward to working with teachers, leaders, policymakers, researchers and students to shape an assessment system that supports every young person to thrive.
