Curriculum change is coming. Here are your top questions answered.

Now that the plans to revise the national curriculum and update GCSEs have been announced, it’s natural to have questions. What’s changing? How does this impact my subject(s)? And, most importantly, how can I get ready for the changes?

Here are your top questions answered to help you prepare with confidence.

What’s changing, and why?

The Department for Education commissioned the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, led by Professor Becky Francis CBE, to modernise the national curriculum and GCSEs. It aims to ensure pupils gain the essential knowledge and skills for success in today’s world, with a focus on strengthening core subjects, broadening learning, and improving preparation for life and work.

The revised curriculum across key stages 1 to 4 will update subject content, strengthen progression, and make expectations clearer for teachers. In some subjects, you will see small refinements or clarified expectations. In others, there will be new content. For example, citizenship will be required in primary and there will be significant changes to the computing curriculum at secondary.

To prepare young people for life and careers in a changing world, there will also be a greater emphasis on critical thinking, creative thinking, problem solving and oracy as well as vital applied knowledge and skills in financial, media and digital literacy and climate and sustainability education in relevant subjects.

These changes are designed to ensure pupils are well equipped for post-16 education and beyond, and this will also mean adjustments to curriculum planning, resources and training for teachers.

When will schools need to act?

There will be a transition period before schools are expected to teach the refreshed curriculum in full. New programmes of study will be available in 2027, with the revised national curriculum being taught from September 2028 and updated GCSEs for first teaching from September 2029 onwards. This gives leaders and teachers time to understand what’s new, review existing schemes of work, and make appropriate adaptations.

The most important thing at this early stage is to stay well informed. All information from the Department for Education is available here and you can sign up for our latest updates and expert guidance.

You don’t need to make any immediate changes. This stage is about getting familiar with what’s ahead and starting to think about what it might mean for your pupils and your school. Knowing what’s coming means you can plan ahead rather than react under pressure later.

How can I get ready for the changes?

The challenge most teachers face during curriculum change isn’t interpreting the updates — it’s finding the time to adapt resources and lesson plans.

We’re well placed to support you through this curriculum change, building on the curriculum plans and lesson resources we released in 2024/25. We’re working with our expert school and education partners to update our curriculum plans and teaching resources in line with the revised curriculum and updated GCSEs. We also have experienced subject-specific leads who will be providing expert guidance to help you navigate curriculum and GCSE changes as they are announced, and plan for successful implementation in detail.

As ever, our updated resources and curriculum plans will be optional, adaptable and just one version of how you might implement the changes. We’ll share them with other providers to support a choice of high-quality materials across the sector, so you can decide what’s best for your school and which resources you want to draw on.

We’ll have our resources ready for you well before you need them in the classroom, so you can understand the changes and prepare with confidence.

With our AI tools, you’ll also be able to easily adapt and tailor content to the needs and abilities of your pupils, without adding to your workload.

You can also have confidence in our existing curriculum plans and resources. They already have a strong focus on lots of the areas the review is recommending. For example, we’ve embedded oracy into our English curriculum, created financial education resources for both citizenship and maths, cover media literacy in RSHE, and have a strong focus on climate and sustainability across geography and science.

Whether you’re leading a trust-wide curriculum or teaching at the chalkface, we can help you through the change – supporting you to prepare pupils for life and careers in a changing world.

You can use Oak in the way that works best for you – from full curriculum planning and lesson design to inspiration for your own approach, cover lessons and everyday support.

Stay ahead of curriculum change

Sign up to get the latest updates, expert guidance, and invitations to webinars, plus free resources and helpful content about the revised national curriculum and updated GCSEs.