Overview
- The government removed the EBacc from performance tables, signalling a shift to broader subject choices and giving arts GCSEs equal status to humanities and languages.
- DfE will work with Ofqual and exam boards to reduce average GCSE exam time by about 2.5 to 3 hours in line with the review’s 10% reduction recommendation.
- Citizenship becomes compulsory in primary schools, covering financial and media literacy, climate education, and understanding of democracy and the law.
- All pupils gain a statutory entitlement to triple science at GCSE and secondaries are expected to offer it, while the current computer science GCSE will be replaced by a broader computing qualification and new data/AI and language qualifications are being explored for 16–18.
- Further steps include a statutory Year 8 reading test, strengthened Year 6 writing assessment, enrichment benchmarks to be inspected by Ofsted, and a proposed reform of Progress 8 that diverges from the review panel’s recommendation.