Commenting on the interim report of the Curriculum and Assessment Review, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"The NEU welcomes a number of the key findings in the interim report of the Curriculum and Assessment Review. It identifies that the primary and secondary curriculum must be broader and that the curriculum needs to be accessible by all. We welcome the acknowledgement that Ebacc has created a hierarchy of subjects, narrowed the curriculum and taken flexibility and choice away from leaders, staff and students.
“The toxic effects of SATs have created a narrower curriculum and an exam factory culture for far too long. SATs label 40 per cent of children as failures before they have left primary school, which plainly does not support a definition of ‘high standards’ that most parents would recognise.
"We welcome the recognition of the importance of teachers’ professional judgement and autonomy. To make good on that we need the panel to work closely with the profession and subject experts to consider how best to create greater space for skills, social development and areas such as critical thinking. The government should set up a process for ongoing review of the curriculum and assessment system and end the political football.
"This is a once in a decade opportunity for the curriculum to be thoroughly scrutinised and made fit for a changing world. We hope that Becky Francis’s team will not miss the opportunity to make recommendations that creates genuine improvements. The panel needs to consider how assessments are conducted and move away from a sole reliance on written exam papers."