A brighter blueprint for education: Action Tutoring’s take on the curriculum and assessment review response

Yesterday’s publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review Final Report signals an important moment for the education system in England. For Action Tutoring, an organisation deeply invested in tackling the educational disadvantage gap, the proposed changes offer both encouragement and a renewed focus for our continued advocacy work.

Our experience working with thousands of pupils from low-income backgrounds across the country gives us a unique perspective on the barriers they face. We are pleased to see several key areas of the review reflecting the needs of these pupils, aligning with the recommendations we submitted:

English and oracy: Valuing the ‘power of talk’

The review rightly highlights oracy—the ability to articulate thoughts fluently and effectively—as being crucial for a pupil’s development. This is a significant outcome. Strong verbal communication skills are vital for academic success and accessing life-changing opportunities.

We fully support the proposed oracy framework, which should help embed a greater focus on spoken language in the classroom. This commitment to oracy is already central to Action Tutoring’s work and is directly reflected in our latest English tutoring resources.

However, our recommendation to introduce formal oral assessments was not taken forward, with the review opting for a framework instead. While we value any step to elevate oracy, we believe that formal assessment is the surest way to guarantee it is prioritised across all schools.

We are also pleased to see that text choices are set to become much more reflective of the diverse texts young people encounter in the modern world. This shift towards greater relevance is a positive move that we hope will increase engagement from pupils, even in the absence of an explicit mention of reading for pleasure in the final proposals.

Maths: Investing in financial futures

One of the most concrete and welcome changes is the explicit emphasis on financial literacy being introduced in the maths curriculum.

We strongly advocated for this, and we are pleased to see the review reflects a plan for greater emphasis on foundational financial concepts starting in primary school. We wholeheartedly support the idea that these concepts, such as budgeting and understanding basic economics, should be built on the logical, rigorous foundations of the maths curriculum before being further explored in other subjects like Citizenship. This is a practical and powerful way to equip disadvantaged pupils with the skills needed for long-term stability and success.

A curriculum for opportunity and equity

Our foundational recommendation to the review was focused on removing the barriers of life experience and cultural capital for disadvantaged pupils. We believe the curriculum must be a vehicle for aspiration.

It is gratifying, therefore, to see the review champion a curriculum that reflects our society and which aims to broaden horizons. This emphasis is crucial to boosting the attainment and life chances of those facing disadvantage by ensuring their learning is both relevant and expansive.

Looking ahead: The power of tuition

While we welcome these curriculum and assessment reforms, we note that the report’s recommendations did not include comment on the role of targeted tuition to close the attainment gap. 

We appreciate that the Review’s terms of reference were rightly focused on the curriculum and statutory assessment system, and that tuition sits outside its direct remit. However, as a national charity which specialises in academic support, we know that high-quality, targeted tuition is a proven and effective tool for accelerating progress and closing the attainment gap. We are therefore eagerly awaiting the upcoming Government White Paper on education, which we anticipate will contain commentary on the power of targeted tuition to achieve the national goal of greater educational equity.

Action Tutoring remains steadfast in its ongoing advocacy work, campaigning for the strategic inclusion of effective interventions like tuition to ensure that the positive curriculum changes announced today lead to tangible improvements in outcomes for every pupil, regardless of their background.