Introducton
The National Education Union (NEU) and the Teaching Commission convened three focus groups with teachers in early May 2026. The aim was to inform the Teaching Commission’s inquiry examining the professional, physical, financial and resource requirements for the successful implementation of the revised national curriculum in 2028.
This report provides a summary of the key findings from all three focus groups. Additional reporting on each focus group was provided to the Teaching Commission to inform their inquiry.
Summary of key findings
- Across all groups, knowledge of the Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR) was limited. None of the participants had heard anything from senior leadership, and knowledge came primarily from individual interest or research.
- Teachers welcomed the principle of them being ‘curriculum makers’ and valued teacher autonomy regarding content and pedagogy, but concerns were raised about whether they would be able to play an active part in the process due to senior leadership teams (SLT) or structures above that, such as their academy trusts, making key decisions on the curriculum.
- Middle leaders felt they somewhat already acted as curriculum makers in their own subject area, but primary and secondary teachers described curriculum-making as a top-down process, leaving little room for teacher autonomy.
- There was a strong feeling that the idea of teachers being curriculum makers is unrealistic under current conditions, those being primarily high workload, limited planning time and the crisis in teacher recruitment and retention.
- All groups highlighted the current recruitment and retention crisis as a key challenge already affecting schools. There was no expectation that this will improve and a strong feeling that it will be a critical barrier to successful implementation of the new national curriculum.
- Teachers were concerned their school may not have the required staff numbers or subject specialists to prepare and deliver a new curriculum and some were concerned that implementing a new curriculum may in fact exacerbate these challenges.
- All groups felt the curriculum is overloaded and expressed concerns that not enough content would be removed to enable improvements.
- Teachers felt that, regardless of the overall timetable for implementation, it was difficult for them to say whether the current timeline is sufficient due to uncertainty about how much time they themselves will be given as departments, in phases or as individuals to prepare for curriculum changes.
- There was a sense that if no additional time is provided for teachers to plan and prepare for the changes, the current timeline for implementation is not realistic due to their high workload and time constraints.
- All groups raised serious concerns about the current assessment system and its impacts.
- Primary teachers felt that assessment is driving the curriculum. They highlighted that high-stakes statutory assessments lead to disproportionate time being spent on assessed areas and felt that they are not helpful for informing teaching and planning.
- Secondary teachers focused on how the current system does not take account of the differing needs of pupils and the detrimental mental health impacts assessments have. They were also sceptical about the benefits of the proposed Year 8 reading test and concerned about its potential negative impacts.
- Middle leaders commented on both the logistical burden of exams, in terms of time, space and staffing, and the emotional costs to students.
Further analysis and quotations are outlined for each key topic covered in the focus group discussions.