What’s on the horizon in 2025/26?
As the summer sun begins to fade and we prepare to open our school gates again, the 2025/26 academic year comes into view – not just as a date in the diary, but as a critical juncture for education.
This coming year, we will have to navigate a shifting policy landscape, as well as evolving societal expectations, and persistent operational pressures.
For governors and trustees, school leaders, and teachers and staff, the key to success is not merely to respond, but to anticipate.
Indeed, strategic vision has never been more crucial. In a climate marked by constant change, those with foresight will be best placed to lead with clarity and conviction.
As such, this series of short blogs aims not just to summarise existing changes but to predict what’s yet to come. It’s a framework for professional curiosity; a panoramic view of the key themes likely to define the year ahead.
In this blog, we will explore…
1 Curriculum and assessment reform
Curriculum reform continues to feature high on the DfE’s agenda. While no sweeping overhaul is expected this year, we can anticipate targeted changes nevertheless – particularly in how curriculum breadth supports economic and societal priorities. Expect renewed emphasis on areas such as sustainability, digital fluency, and careers education, not just as additions or afterthoughts, but as essential threads woven through subject disciplines.
Assessment frameworks may also evolve, with policymakers and thinktanks exploring more formative approaches that reduce pressure while enhancing diagnostic value. The role of teacher-led assessment, particularly in the early years and key stage 3, could grow, as could the use of AI. Meanwhile, questions persist around how well national assessments reflect the diversity of pupil needs and life skills required for the future.
Cross-curricular coherence will become more important than ever. Schools that can align curriculum intent with societal priorities – climate literacy, workplace readiness, civic responsibility – will be ahead of the curve.
In a National College podcast published in May 2025, I set out 5 areas for schools to consider in order to future-proof their curriculum and assessment methods. Those factors were:
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?
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?
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?
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?
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?
References and further reading
- Curriculum and assessment review: The interim report of the DfE’s Curriculum and Assessment Review, led by Professor Becky Francis and published on 18 March 2025, confirms that the system often delivers “high standards for some” but not for all, particularly pupils with SEND or from disadvantaged backgrounds. It emphasises evolution, not revolution, and outlines the next steps, including improving inclusion and the depth and breadth of subject knowledge.
- Arts and Ebacc: The review is expected to recommend measures that broaden access to arts subjects—addressing ongoing concerns about the narrowing effect of the English Baccalaureate.
- Broader curriculum needs: Independent commentary, including by The Financial Times, argues that education often lacks emphasis on initiative, resilience, digital adaptability, oracy, and creative arts—calling for a future-ready curriculum.
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