Responding to the publication of the curriculum and assessment review and the government's response, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders' union NAHT, said:

“While it doesn’t deliver everything we had called for, this package of recommendations is a step in the right direction in better meeting the needs of all pupils, including children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with additional needs.  

“We are pleased that the review has recognised that the current national curriculum is outdated and overloaded, and that the volume of content in the curriculum must be appropriate for the teaching time that is available.  Crucially, this creates the space schools need to develop their curriculum, ensure it is relevant to all pupils and better meet individual needs. 

“Reducing the content in the current programmes of study will also be important to make time for the positive additions to the curriculum including financial, digital and media literacy, climate change and sustainability, and speaking skills.

“NAHT has been clear that the local decisions on the Religious Education curriculum lead to big differences and inconsistency in content and pupil experience. We therefore support the recommendation to make the subject part of the National Curriculum and urge the government to act swiftly to move this work forwards.

“The recommendation that the EBacc should be scrapped is absolutely welcome  - NAHT has campaigned against the measure since its inception – and the government’s proposal to reform progress 8 to remove the EBacc restriction and bring back breadth and more meaningful choice for students is encouraging.

“The review report is clear that any student should be able to study separate sciences if that want to, but not that this should be compulsory for every student. To achieve this, the government must address the barriers schools face, including a lack of specialist teachers and timetabling challenges.

“Despite the recommendations to amend the GPS (grammar punctuation and spelling) test and consider the accessibility of some other primary tests, it is immensely disappointing that the opportunity has been missed to reduce unnecessary primary school tests. These take up a disproportionate amount of time and place enormous strain on children and teachers for little obvious benefit.

“The recommendation for diagnostic assessments in English and maths during Year 8 has resulted in the government announcing a Year 8 reading test, a much more simplified and blunt approach than that proposed by the review. NAHT is clear that tests in themselves do not improve standards – good teaching does.

“We now urge the government to work closely with the sector on the implementation of these recommendations and to ensure schools and colleges are provided with the time and resources they need.”