5 ways to help future-proof your curriculum

EXCLUSIVE TO OUR BLOG! Matt Bromley offers practical advice for schools to ensure their curriculums are future-proofed amid external uncertainty…

The DfE’s curriculum and assessment review panel’s interim report, published in March 2025, makes clear that the current national curriculum is, broadly, a good one that most parents back. To quote the report, it “is a knowledge-rich offer, and international comparisons suggest that the present arrangements have had a positive impact on attainment”.

However, the review panel also concede that excellence “is not yet provided for all: persistent attainment gaps remain”. As such, the review will consider what more schools can do to improve outcomes for socio-economically disadvantaged young people and those with SEND. 

The report goes on to say that the most frequent theme in response to its call for evidence was “positivity about the breadth of the curriculum at key stages 1 to 4”. However, the report added that their review also “identified that some features of the current system make the delivery of this broad and balanced curriculum challenging”. Many respondents “cited the trade-off between breadth and depth, noting that while the curriculum has a large variety of subjects, there can be a challenge to address them all adequately”.

Meanwhile, advocates for the arts and some other subjects “maintain that some subjects have been squeezed, either in relation to curriculum time, take-up by students, or both”.

In its next phase, the review will look at the “volume of specified content at key stages 1 and 2 to ensure that a good level of breadth across the curriculum is achievable, while continuing to drive high and rising standards in all subjects”.

The interim report says that the curriculum is “at its broadest in terms of the number of subjects studied at key stage 3”. But “evidence shows that breadth is often being compromised at this stage”. The volume of content to be covered at key stage 4 means “many schools begin preparing pupils for GCSE in year 9…which narrows the curriculum offer and may curtail learning in curriculum subjects not selected for further study”.

The review also heard transitions “are not always well-aligned between key stages, particularly between key stage 2 and key stage 3, and that there is repetition in the key stage 3 curriculum, which can cause learners to become disengaged”.

The review will therefore look at ways of improving the “alignment between key stages 2, 3 and 4, assessing how breadth and sequencing can better support students to build their knowledge and deepen their understanding”.

Additionally, the report notes that “rapid social, environmental and technological change necessitates that the curriculum keep pace, including a renewed focus on digital and media literacy, and a greater focus on sustainability and climate science”.

Although many schools teach areas like digital skills, “society is rapidly changing, and bringing new opportunities and challenges, including those presented by AI, and those relating to global political developments and climate change”. The review says they will consider whether there is sufficient coverage of these (and other) areas of knowledge and skills within subjects, and how content can remain relevant and support young people to thrive in a fast-changing world.”

The review also “heard compelling arguments that the curriculum needs to do more in ensuring that all young people feel represented, and that it successfully delivers the equalities duties to support equality of opportunity and challenge discrimination”. But as well as making sure that children and young people can see themselves represented in the curriculum, “it will be important that we also make sure they encounter the unfamiliar, and have their horizons stretched and broadened”. Representation “does not and must not mean restriction to only some frames of reference for particular children or groups of children”.

As part of their subject review work, the panel “we will look across the curriculum to examine where opportunities exist to increase diversity in representation, and to ensure that the curriculum facilitates a fostering of inclusivity and challenge to discrimination”.

So, what does all this mean? I would advise that schools consider the following 5 factors when planning curriculums that are future-proofed for the next 3-5 years:

1 To what extent does your curriculum meet the needs of disadvantaged children and those with SEND? Do all pupils get access to an ambitious curriculum and are they helped, inc through adaptations, to access that curriculum and achieve in line with their peers? Do you use the curriculum as an engine for social justice? Read more about equitable curriculums here and here.

2 Does your curriculum strike a balance between breadth and depth? Is it, in other words, a T-shaped curriculum? Do you teach enough subject content so as not to perpetuate knowledge gaps and put roadblocks in the way of pupils’ next steps, but do you also teach the fundamental building blocks of each subject in sufficient depth so that pupils develop a deep understanding of it, rather than just acquire superficial knowledge? What choices do you make about what gets taught and about how much time it is given? Read more about breadth and balance here.

3 Is your curriculum well sequenced so that it’s progressive? Is it planned collaboratively so that it’s joined up? Does what is taught in one year or key stage build upon what was taught in the previous, and does it build towards what is taught in the next? Do your teachers do their homework and understand what pupils have been taught previously, what they should already know and be able to do? Read more about sequencing here.

4 Is your curriculum responsive and innovative? Do you keep pace with external changes, such as green energy and the advent of AI? Do you use relevant, up-to-date examples from the real world? Read more on curriculum planning here.

5 Do you audit your curriculum to ensure it talks to your pupils’ lived experiences? Do your content choices and the examples, case studies and analogies used to teach the curriculum reflect your pupils, do they see themselves represented and this feel that they belong? And does your curriculum take pupils beyond their lived experiences and celebrate diversity and difference? Visit our hive for a free curriculum self-evaluation tool.

About the author

Matt Bromley is CEO of bee and Chair of the Building Equity in Education Campaign. He is an education journalist, author, and advisor with over twenty-five years’ experience in teaching and leadership including as a headteacher. He is now a public speaker, trainer, initial teacher training lecturer, and school improvement advisor, and remains a practising teacher. Matt writes for various magazines, is the author of numerous best-selling books on education, and co-hosts an award-winning podcast. Find out more at bee-online.uk

Matt’s next book, which is out now and published by Routledge, is called Why School Doesn’t Work for Every Child and explores ways of creating more inclusive schools.