Time spent on GCSE exams will be reduced to help relieve pressures felt by students during the exam period.  This is one of the major recommendations from the final report of the Curriculum and Assessment Review. 

Reduction in assessment
In its response to the recommendations, the government says it will work with Ofqual and Exam Boards to reduce examination time by on average 2.5 - 3 hours for the average student taking eight or nine GCSEs, without impacting on the rigour of assessment.

Schools are also encouraged to support students in making choices about the number of subjects taken to ensure the volume of content and assessment in Key Stage 4 is manageable.

Both the final report and the Department for Education response recommend that exams should be retained saying they are the fairest and most reliable form of assessment which can also mitigate the risks to assessment posed by generative artificial intelligence. Support is given to non-exam assessment but only when it is the single, valid way to assess essential elements of a subject. 

Subject-by-subject
Curriculum subject-specific recommendations are outlined in the final report including replacing the current Computer Science GCSE with a broader GCSE to better prepare young people for digital technology across a wide range of fields including the use of artificial intelligence, and introducing an entitlement that allows students to take a “triple science” of individual biology, physics and chemistry GCSEs, rather than double science.  Significant reforms are recommended for English.

Key Stage 3 tests
The government will introduce a new statutory reading test in year 8 to support progress towards GCSE success at Key Stage 4.  All schools will be expected to assess pupil progress in writing and maths in year 8.

Ebacc 
The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) performance measure is to be scrapped and the Progress 8 measure revised.  The Review panel believes that the EBacc has unnecessarily constrained student choice affecting engagement and achievement and limiting access to arts and vocational subjects - “we must grasp the opportunity to ensure that more young people are able to choose qualifications that inspire them, and which speak to their strengths and the directions they wish to take”.  Changes to EBacc performance measures will take effect for the 2025-2026 academic year, and a consultation on changes to Progress 8 will follow “shortly”.

Technical awards
Vocational qualifications taken at Key Stage 4 will be retained with plans for a review at a later date.  The existing moratorium on the introduction of new Technical Award subjects will be kept in place.

Post-16 
As announced earlier, the Government has announced new vocational qualifications - V Levels - to sit alongside A Levels and T Levels as part of a major reform of post-16 education. Post-16 foundation and occupational qualifications will be introduced at Level 2, and new English and maths qualifications will be created for post-16 students to facilitate progression to the Level 2 GCSE. 

Preparation for life and careers in a changing world
Both the review and the government response say that the curriculum needs to respond to social and technological change and better prepare young people for their futures.  A new oracy, reading and writing framework will be embedded into the curriculum as well as financial, media and digital literacy skills.  Climate and sustainability education will be improved in “relevant subjects”, with critical thinking and creative thinking and problem solving clearly articulated in refreshed programmes of study.

A Levels
Very little concern was heard about A Levels during the Curriculum and Assessment Review in contrast to the significant change called for at Key Stage 4.  However, the government is asked to consider the overall coherence of post-16 academic qualifications in light of changes to GCSEs.

Timelines
Following extensive consultation and research, the year-long Curriculum and Assessment Review headed by Professor Becky Francis received more than 7,000 responses to its call for evidence culminating in its 170-page final report. Following further consultation, the new National Curriculum will be published in spring 2027 for first teaching in September 2028.  Revised GCSEs will be introduced in two phases with first teach in 2029 and 2030.