Summary of Rethinking Assessment’s submission to the Curriculum & Assessment Review in England

Rethinking Assessment submission to the Curriculum & Assessment Review, November 2024

Rethinking Assessment welcomes the opportunity to respond to the consultation and put forward ideas and evidence about how the overall aspirations of the review could be realised.

Given our focus on assessment, we especially welcome the aim to create, ‘An assessment system that captures the strengths of every child and young person and the breadth of curriculum, with the right balance of assessment methods whilst maintaining the important role of examinations’ – and wholeheartedly agree with this intention.

Over the last five years there have been over 25 high profile reviews, Commissions, inquiries and reports on the future of curriculum, assessment and qualifications, and the need for reform of the assessment system in England. See the full list of reports here.

Numerous politicians and influential decision makers have also voiced the need for change, including via the Times Education Commission, and calls for a Baccalaureate style model for education for England. See for example:

https://www.thetimes.com/article/john-major-leads-call-to-overhaul-gcses-pmsbjn3z9

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/national-curriculum-children-labour-overhaul-plkz205n8

https://www.roberthalfon.com/news/letter-sunday-times-future-education

For the five core aspirations of the curriculum and assessment review to be realised, there are a number of important changes that will be needed across the education system. Including:

1. A new set of curriculum standards will be required, which makes school engaging, motivating, and irresistible for all young people. We have a national attendance crisis currently, with increasing numbers of young people disengaged from and persistently absent from school. The curriculum needs to speak to each and every learner. Teachers will require a broader repertoire of pedagogies, practices, and resources, supported with professional learning, to teach the new curriculum. Teacher training and CPDL will need to reflect this.

2. Our assessment system will need to recognise and validate the strengths of all learners, and move beyond a system that effectively requires a percentage of learners to fail, often referred to as the Forgotten Third. 20% of young people leave compulsory schooling with no qualifications at all, which is a monumental waste of potential and of public investments in education. Valuing and validating broader knowledge, skills and capabilities will require a wider modality of assessment methods to be utilised for both formative and summative assessment. The assessment literacy of teachers, and their capacities and capabilities, will need sustained investment. New assessment approaches will also be required to understand progress against these wider, and in some cases, new, curriculum aspirations, set out in the Review terms of reference.

3. The effectiveness and performance of the education system overall will need to be understood through a broader paradigm of what constitutes success. Different standards and indicators will be required, such as those being proposed for the new School Report Card.

To improve the system, we would propose the following starting principles

1. The education system should start with a clear, simple and stable statement of the skills, knowledge and competencies that society expects young people to develop through their education. This should include the skills needed for learners to flourish personally, socially, technologically and economically, building on the Skills Builder Universal Framework.

2. Our education system should be broad, balanced and flexible – a principle which applies to curriculum, assessment, qualifications and accountability. Our current system  is arguably over-centralised and over-prescriptive, and is not adequately meeting the needs of all learners due to a narrow overfocus on academic pathways and a narrow and high stakes assessment and accountability architecture. We need to rebalance the relationship  between central prescription and local / regional flexibility.

3. Headteachers and teachers should be ‘re-professionalised’ and given greater autonomy over how they teach knowledge, skills, and competences, reflecting their professional training and judgement. This reflects sentiment in numerous reports including the influential IPPR report Improvement through Empowerment.

4. We need a 10 year plan for education in England, augmented by a review cycle and planning process which enables continuous evolution, improvement and effective strategic management.

Looking at assessment specifically, as a first step, we propose the following as target areas for improvement

  1. Reduction in the volume of high stakes terminal assessment at the end of Key Stage 4. This would also result in significant cost savings to the system.
  2. Reform of school performance measures to incentivise the uptake of different combinations of qualifications which will  a) allow for the development and recognition of broader knowledge, skills and capabilities, b) broaden the curriculum to ensure all young people have the opportunity to study a vocational or creative subject, c) support greater regional flexibilities and the alignment of qualifications at level 2 to local labour market needs. Highly valued project qualifications should be included in future performance measures.
  3. National adoption of the Skills Builder Universal Framework – already widely used across education providers, and supported by employers, teachers, school leaders and parents. Alongside enacting the proposals of the Oracy Education Commission to make oracy the fourth “R” of education – of equal status to reading, writing and arithmetic.
  4. Rather than almost exclusively relying on end of course written examinations we need to better match the mode of assessment to the nature of the learning and activity being assessed. Reviewing the assessment modes within key qualifications would result in a better match to their content and increased reliability.
  5. Harnessing the potential offered by new technologies to improve teaching, learning and assessment, building on the work already being done by awarding bodies and other service providers. This includes piloting a national digital Learner Profile which recognises and evidences a wider range of strengths, capabilities and achievements, and gives learners more agency over their progress and goals.
  6. Broadening post 16 options and experiences for learners, through mechanisms like the Extended Project Qualification and the Youth Employment UK’s Young Persons’ Entitlement, which sets out a comprehensive 16-19 framework of essential entitlements and experiences.
  7. Reviewing teacher training and development / leadership development. Although this is not the subject of this review, it is closely connected to any proposed changes that will result. This includes the content of national professional qualifications.

And finally…

Rethinking Assessment fully endorses the view expressed by the Foundation for Education Development and other bodies that England urgently needs a clear, cohesive, and long-term vision for education, anchored by a well-defined purpose. Unlike other nations with clearly articulated principles promoting lifelong learning, informed citizenship, and personal wellbeing, England lacks an overarching strategy.

This vision must be supported by a robust action plan, including a framework for regular curriculum and assessment review, developed collaboratively with those in the education system and other stakeholders. Insights from FED’s consultations reveal that, without a unified, sustainable plan focused on equity and holistic development, the system will remain fragmented, obstructing progress.

A formal, inclusive framework for curriculum and assessment review would enable education leaders to collaborate more effectively with policymakers, delivering an education system that meets the evolving needs of learners and society. We support FED in advocating for a long-term educational plan rooted in shared vision and values, shaped by contributions from educators, industry leaders, families, and especially learners. We would urge the Government to build on its ambitious trajectory set out in the curriculum and assessment review terms of reference, with implementation incrementally and carefully planned and sequenced over a 10+ year time period.

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