While the recently published curriculum and assessment review (CAR) contains more than 50 mentions of SEND, there are few specific recommendations for those pupils.
SEND reforms will be a key aspect of the government’s White Paper, the publication of which has now been delayed until the new year.
However, the CAR, led by Professor Becky Francis (pictured), seeks a shift away from the high stakes testing that is used for school accountability and a move towards more skills-based learning, which seen as a benefit to pupils who might struggle with the more academic aspects of school.
Professor Francis said the review could be characterised as “being about balances and trade-offs”. It acknowledges that the existing curriculum is not always inclusive and calls for one that is coherent, well-sequenced and inclusive.
We have applied a social justice lens to all aspects of our work, seeking to identify and remove barriers to progress
Her report stated that it hoped to: “remediate existing blocks to progress and good outcomes, with an especial concern for equity and ensuring positive outcomes for children and young people who are from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, have a special education need or disability and/or are otherwise vulnerable.”
It goes on: “We have applied a social justice lens to all aspects of our work, seeking to identify and remove barriers to progress within the curriculum and assessment system. In doing this we recognise that young people from both socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds and those with SEND are not generalised groups.
“They contain individuals with a wide range of prior attainment and characteristics, strengths, interests, barriers to learning, and needs regarding the curriculum”.
Some of the key recommendations impacting SEND pupils:
- Primary tests to be more accessible for pupils with SEND
The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) should work with the government to look at ways of assessing progress for SEND pupils as the current phonics screening and multiplication tables checks are “inaccessible” to some students.
- Removal of the EBacc performance measure
The Department for Education has already agreed to remove the EBacc measure, which was said to limit what pupils could study in the curriculum.
The Department for Education admitted it can “to some degree unnecessarily constrained students’ choices”, which had “affected their engagement and achievement, and limited their access to, and the time available for, arts and vocational subjects”.
- Oracy framework
The review calls for the government to introduce an oracy framework, with the government confirming it would launch new frameworks for primary and secondary pupils.
- Separate Year 8 English reading test
The review proposes a key stage 3 English test that will diagnose gaps in learning.
The government has also said it will strengthen the existing writing assessment in Year 6 to identify pupils who need extra support.
- Reducing exam time
The review recommends reducing GCSE exam time by at least 10% and “further than this where possible”. There should also be a re-think of GCSE content in different subjects to reduce the volume of content.
- Reviewing GCSEs for diversity
All content should be reviewed and updated to ensure a “stronger representation of the diversity that makes up our modern society, allowing more children to see themselves in the curriculum”, the review states. This should include corresponding GCSE subject content where appropriate.
- Year 8 maths test
A Year 8 diagnostic test for maths would help teachers to “identify and deal with any weaknesses before students progress to key stage 4”.
- Enrichment and skills entitlement
Although skills-based learning was not a specific recommendation of the review, it states that there should be more focus on life skills and “enrichment”, with pupils having more time “for all of those amazing other things that schools do”, such as plays, sport and work experience”.
Thinking differently about education
Melissa Farnham, CEO of ASDAN, the education charity and awarding organisation, focusing on skills-based learning, welcomed the review’s findings. She said: “It invites us to think differently about what it means to be successful in education.
“High standards and deep learning matter, but so does the ability to collaborate, to question, to adapt, and to contribute meaningfully to society. These are the qualities that shape lives and communities.
“The review proposes a core enrichment entitlement for every learner, alongside reforms to assessment and accountability frameworks. This signals a national commitment to a more balanced system, one that values civic participation, creativity, outdoor learning, wellbeing, and practical capability alongside academic achievement.”
More time on SATs?
However, the campaigning group More Than a Score, which seeks to abolish SATs in primary schools, described the review as a “disappointment”.
“Rather than reducing the primary assessment burden, the review is, instead, recommending that more children to spend more time preparing for government exams, including children with SEND,” it said.
The government has responded to the review and said the new curriculum would be published in spring 2027 and implemented in full for first teaching from September 2028.
