As NUS president I chair the youth-led shadow curriculum and assessment review, which was borne from a shared desire amongst young people for meaningful, inclusive and relevant education.
Our recently published final recommendations aim to address issues identified by young people through nationwide engagement, supported by evidence and insights provided by expert contributions.
We’ve worked to ensure that young people have their views represented in this review. I firmly believe that perspectives of young people must be included in reshaping education and am so proud to support the shadow review, along with leading organisations including SOS-UK, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, I have a voice, NUS, The Scouts Association, NYA, UK Youth and Young Citizens.
The report sets out 14 key recommendations which reflect the shared view from young people for an education system across four themes: building skills and relevance to life; assessments, mental health and wellbeing; climate, sustainability and citizenship education; and equity and inclusion.
The recommendations have been shared with the intention of influencing the curriculum and assessment review, and I am hopeful that the recommendations will ultimately be implemented by the Department for Education. Students have a vision for education that is bold, ambitious, and fit for the challenges we face today and, for those of the future, and through the shadow review we’ve strived to present this vision to government.
Students want an education system that prepares them for life, with skills like financial, digital, information and political literacy on the curriculum. Our young people are currently graduating without the broader competencies needed to thrive in life; the shadow review’s recommendations will change that.
Enhanced integration of citizenship skills – such as teamwork, critical thinking, resilience, analytical skills, empathy, debate and problem-solving – are also recommended across the curriculum and all key stages.
Young people today want the skills to become active, participatory and considerate members of our society. We know that our education should be preparing us to be active and engaged citizens, and we want to be prepared for the task. It is the government’s responsibility to incorporate the shadow review’s recommendations and guarantee young people the best possible foundation to take on tomorrow’s challenges.
Students also know that the society we want to meaningfully participate in is incredibly diverse, and we want an education system that reflects that. The shadow review calls on government to ensure that the national curriculum represents the full diversity of society, throughout history and at present. This means integrating a wider range of perspectives, including racialised, LGBTQIA+, disabled, neurodivergent, faith-based and working-class communities, whilst ensuring that these are presented sensitively to avoid tokenism. We want real experiences included through case studies, examples, and thoughtful subject content to guarantee psychological safety. Many FE providers are already independently working on delivering diverse curricula, such as Goldsmiths, University of London’s decolonised and diverse syllabuses, and Brighton MET College’s incorporation of queer perspectives in relevant courses. But the Shadow Review wants this inclusivity to be mandated across the whole country, and across all key stages.
We want the assessment system to be more inclusive and accessible, too. Current exam formats disproportionately disadvantage disabled and neurodiverse learners, and students are calling for reasonable adjustments to be proactively offered, not requested, and students should be able to choose from a range of assessment methods based on what will work best for them, rather than the narrow, prescriptive approach which exists now.
The shadow review shows that students want an education system built on inclusivity and empathy which prepares us for life’s future challenges, ranging from managing money to tackling climate change. Government has a major opportunity to respond to these demands with the publication of the curriculum and assessment review slated for this autumn. I am pleased by how receptive Professor Becky Francis and colleagues have been so far. If our recommendations are accepted in the final review, the benefits will be far reaching throughout this generation, the next, and all those which follow.
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