The biggest shake-up to England’s education system in over a decade has just been announced, and it’s set to transform what children learn in classrooms across the country. If you’re a parent, teacher, or simply interested in the future of British education, here’s what you need to understand about the sweeping curriculum changes coming in 2028.
What’s Actually Changed? The Key Takeaways
After receiving feedback from over 7,000 parents, teachers, students, and education experts, Professor Becky Francis’s Curriculum and Assessment Review has revealed its final recommendations, and the government has wasted no time in backing most of them.
The bottom line? England’s National Curriculum hasn’t been updated since 2014, and the world has changed dramatically since then. From artificial intelligence to climate change, today’s children need different skills than their parents did.
The Five Big Changes That Will Affect Your Child
1. Speaking Skills Get Equal Billing with Reading and Writing
For the first time, speaking and listening—what educators call “oracy”—will become a core focus from early years right through to secondary school. Think about it: how often do we use public speaking, clear communication, and active listening in our daily lives? Yet schools have traditionally focused heavily on written skills whilst neglecting verbal ones.
The new curriculum recognises that being able to articulate thoughts clearly, debate respectfully, and listen actively are essential life skills—not optional extras.
2. Computing Education Enters the AI Age
The narrow computer science GCSE will be replaced with a broader computing GCSE, reflecting the reality that digital skills now encompass far more than just coding. The government is also exploring a new qualification in data science and AI for 16-18 year-olds.
This matters because the jobs market has fundamentally shifted. Understanding data, recognising AI’s capabilities and limitations, and navigating digital information safely are now baseline requirements across virtually every industry.
3. Citizenship Becomes Compulsory in Primary Schools
Citizenship lessons will now be mandatory in Years 1 to 6, ensuring all pupils learn about democracy, human rights, media literacy, and financial literacy from an early age. The review found that citizenship education for primary school age children was “inconsistent” and that children from disadvantaged backgrounds had fewer opportunities to develop these crucial skills.
In an era of fake news, social media echo chambers, and increasing political polarisation, teaching children how to evaluate information critically and participate constructively in society has never been more important.
4. Climate Change and Nature Get Their Own Curriculum Space
Science and geography lessons will explicitly develop students’ understanding of climate change, sustainability, and global efforts to tackle environmental challenges. Rather than treating climate science as a controversial topic to be avoided, the new curriculum embraces it as fundamental scientific literacy.
5. The End of the EBacc and Greater Subject Choice
Here’s a change that many students and parents will welcome: the government is removing the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) measure and reforming Progress 8 to encourage students to study a greater breadth of GCSE subjects including the arts, humanities and languages.
The EBacc—which pushed students towards a narrow set of academic subjects—has been criticised for years for limiting choice and squeezing out creative subjects. The measure failed to encourage take-up of subjects including languages whilst constraining student choice.
Why These Changes Matter: The Problems They’re Solving
The review didn’t happen in a vacuum. England’s current curriculum has been showing cracks for years.
The Inequality Problem
The review looked closely at barriers that hold children back from opportunities and life chances they deserve—particularly those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged or with special educational needs and disabilities. The current system works well for some students but fails too many others, especially those from less privileged backgrounds.
The Skills Gap
Employers have been complaining for years that school leavers lack essential workplace skills. The government’s ambition is for a curriculum that delivers excellent foundations in reading, writing and maths, whilst ensuring every young person gets the opportunity to develop creative, digital, and speaking and listening skills particularly prized by employers.
The Outdated Content Problem
Simply put, the world has moved on. Artificial intelligence wasn’t a mainstream concern in 2014. Climate change science has advanced considerably. The pandemic revealed how essential digital literacy has become. The curriculum needed to catch up.
What About Religious Education and Triple Science?
Two subject-specific changes deserve special attention:
Religious education will be added to the National Curriculum, giving it statutory status for the first time and ensuring consistent quality across all schools. An expert group will review its content to make sure it’s fit for purpose in modern, diverse Britain.
The government has also accepted the recommendation to introduce an entitlement to triple science at GCSE, ensuring any student who wants to study biology, chemistry, and physics separately has the opportunity to do so. This matters for students considering STEM careers, where separate sciences provide better preparation for A-level study.
When Will These Changes Actually Happen?
Don’t panic if your child is currently in school—these changes won’t happen overnight.
The final curriculum will be published in spring 2027, and schools will start teaching it from September 2028. This gives teachers and schools plenty of time to prepare, access training, and adapt their planning.
The government has learned from past curriculum reforms that rushed implementation creates chaos. The review expects to recommend a phased programme of work that allows reforms to be made incrementally in a way that doesn’t destabilise the system.
What Teachers Think: The Frontline Perspective
Professor Francis has emphasised the importance of considering how changes could contribute to staff workload and avoiding unintended consequences. After years of teachers leaving the profession due to excessive workload and constant policy changes, there’s welcome recognition that reform must be sustainable for those delivering it.
The sensible implementation timeline—with the new curriculum not arriving until 2028—gives the sector time to prepare properly rather than scrambling at the last minute.
The International Context: How Does This Compare?
England isn’t alone in rethinking education for the modern world. Countries across the globe are grappling with similar questions: How do we prepare children for jobs that don’t yet exist? How do we teach critical thinking in the age of AI-generated content? How do we balance traditional academic rigour with twenty-first century skills?
What’s distinctive about England’s approach is the scale of consultation—over 7,000 responses—and the emphasis on evidence-based policy. The review team conducted extensive data analysis and research before making recommendations, rather than basing changes on ideology or hunches.
What This Means for Different Age Groups
For Primary School Children (Ages 5-11)
The biggest changes will be mandatory citizenship education and a stronger focus on speaking and listening skills alongside traditional literacy. Your child’s school day might include more structured debates, presentations, and group discussions. Climate education will be woven through science lessons rather than treated as a standalone topic.
For Secondary School Students (Ages 11-16)
Expect greater subject choice at GCSE level, with the removal of EBacc pressure potentially opening up more opportunities to study arts, languages, and other subjects that were previously squeezed out. Computing lessons will feel more relevant to the digital world students actually inhabit. Triple science becomes an option for any student who wants it, not just those at certain schools.
For Sixth Form and College Students (Ages 16-19)
The review recommends introducing a revised third pathway at level 3 to sit alongside academic and technical routes, giving more options for students whose strengths and interests don’t fit neatly into A-levels or BTECs. The potential new qualification in data science and AI could open exciting opportunities for students interested in cutting-edge technology fields.
The Challenges Ahead: What Could Go Wrong?
Not everyone is entirely pleased with every recommendation. Some concerns that have been raised include:
Implementation Costs: Whilst the government has committed to these reforms, questions remain about funding. Training teachers in new subjects, developing new resources, and supporting schools through the transition all cost money.
Teacher Workload: Despite assurances about manageable implementation, any curriculum change inevitably creates work for teachers who must learn new content and develop new lesson plans.
Assessment Changes: The review makes recommendations about exams and assessment that could be controversial. Reducing exam time sounds appealing, but how do you maintain standards whilst doing so?
The AI Challenge: The review acknowledges the need to work with the education sector to explore how core content can be retained and assessed whilst managing the risks of generative AI. This is genuinely difficult—if AI can write essays and solve maths problems, how do we assess students authentically?
What Parents Can Do Now
Even though changes won’t arrive until 2028, parents can start preparing:
Talk to your children about current events. The new curriculum emphasises citizenship and critical thinking—skills you can develop at home through family discussions about news and issues.
Encourage verbal communication. With oracy becoming central, practise having proper conversations with your children. Ask them to explain their thinking, debate family decisions, and present ideas clearly.
Explore technology together. Rather than just consuming digital content, help your children understand how technology works and think critically about what they see online.
Support breadth of interests. If your child wants to study music, drama, or art alongside traditional academics, the new curriculum will support that choice more than the current system does.
Looking Ahead: A Curriculum Fit for the Future?
The ultimate question is whether these changes will achieve what they’re meant to: preparing every child for success in life and work, regardless of background.
The signs are promising. The review was thorough, the consultation was extensive, and the implementation timeline is realistic. The focus on skills like communication, critical thinking, and digital literacy addresses genuine gaps in the current curriculum.
But reform is always easier to announce than to implement. The real test will come in 2028 when teachers start delivering the new curriculum in classrooms across England. Will resources match ambitions? Will training be adequate? Will the promised improvements in equity and opportunity actually materialise?
What’s clear is that change is coming, and for many students—particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds or with interests beyond traditional academic subjects—these changes could be transformative. The next few years will be crucial in determining whether this reform joins the ranks of successful education policy or becomes another missed opportunity.
Further Reading and Resources
For the most detailed information, the full review report and government response are available on the GOV.UK website. Schools will receive detailed guidance as implementation approaches.
Parents with specific concerns should speak to their child’s school, though remember that staff are still learning about these changes themselves. The Department for Education has indicated that further consultation and guidance will follow as the new curriculum is developed over the next two and a half years.
This is a developing story, and we’ll continue to provide updates as more details emerge about how these ambitious reforms will work in practice. The conversation about what children should learn—and how they should learn it—is far from over.
