Mortgages, savings and how to spot fake news under major changes to national curriculum in England
Children will be taught how to manage their finances and learn about mortgages under major changes to the national curriculum.
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Other planned changes will see children taught about AI, disinformation and fake news, and how to stay safe online.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the government wanted to "revitalise" the curriculum and it comes on the back of the new V levels being proposed.
The national curriculum review, which will come into effect from 2028, will include:
- Financial literacy in maths classes, or compulsory citizenship in primary school
- How to spot misinformation and disinformation
- Plans for a new post-16 qualification in data science and AI
- More content on climate change
- Focus on diversity
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Additionally the Government wants children to cut time spent on GCSE exams by an average of three hours per student, saying that current exam volume is ‘excessive’.
They also want to ensure all children can take three science GCSEs. The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) will be scrapped.
Curriculum review leader Professor Becky Francis said: “We are an international outlier in the number of exams and the volume of exams we have aged 16, only Singapore is anywhere near us”.
“So we do want to try and bring that down,” she said.
“It’s a very intense and elongated time, as anyone who’s been a parent of GCSE-age pupils knows, but we don’t want to trade standards and reliability.”
The EBacc – a performance measure of schools which aims to ensure pupils take English, maths, science, a humanities subject and a language at GCSE – was introduced in 2010 under then-education secretary Mr Gove.
Ms Phillipson said: “It has been over a decade since the national curriculum was updated, and it’s more crucial than ever that young people are equipped to face the challenges of today, so they can seize the exciting opportunities that life has to offer.”
The review also included the recommendation for new level 1 English and maths qualifications for lower-attaining 16 to 19-year-olds to help them prepare to resit their GCSEs – a measure already announced in the Government’s Post-16 and Skills White Paper.
Professor Francis had told a school trust leaders’ conference in October that a more nuanced approach was needed to English and maths resits for post-16 students, “rather than an inflexible approach”.
The Government launched a review of curriculum and assessment in schools and colleges just weeks after winning the general election in July 2024.
A panel of experts considered a range of evidence, including more than 7,000 responses from the public.