Curriculum, Qualifications and Assessment Reform: progress to date and next steps

Background to Scotland’s Reform to Curriculum, Qualifications and Assessment

Scotland is making important changes to its curriculum, qualifications and assessment system to better support children and young people from ages 3 to 18. This will help ensure every learner is recognised for the knowledge, skills and achievements they develop during their learning journey.

The recommendations of the OECD report in 2021, the National Discussion 2023 and the Scottish Government's response to the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment (2024) provided clear messages about what should change in relation to curriculum, qualifications and assessment. There are also elements of the Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape, Fit for the Future: developing a post-school learning system to fuel economic transformation, 2023, which are pertinent to the work. Common themes across these reports include the need to introduce a systematic approach to curriculum review, clarify the position of knowledge, create clearer progression between the Broad General Education (BGE) and the senior phase and onwards into post-school learning, review the balance of approaches to assessment and consider ways in which broader achievement can be recognised.^[1]

The document provides an initial timeline to give clarity to partners and practitioners across the education and skills system, as well as to parents, carers, children and young people, about what will happen and when, and to support early thinking about when and how teaching, learning, and assessment will start to feel different. While change to curriculum, qualifications and assessment should be expected, the focus will remain on the enhancement of excellent learning and teaching as we know this will make the greatest impact on outcomes for children and young people.

While the changes outlined in this paper respond to a series of reports, they also represent a response to consistent messages from children, young people, parents and carers who have also advocated for change in respect of Scotland’s curriculum and approach to qualifications and assessment^[2]. Common themes in discussions about the future of Scottish education include moving beyond a perceived focus on a high-stakes annual exam diet, making learning more engaging and recognising the achievements of all learners. This paper sets out how the education sector will take forward a range of ideas related to these priorities.

Over the past 18 months the Scottish Government (SG), Education Scotland (ES), Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework Partnership (SCQFP), Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and the Curriculum and Assessment Board (CAB)^[3] have been working in partnership to support and enable significant, wide-ranging and important reforms to Scotland’s approach to curriculum, qualifications and assessment. At the heart of this work is a new Curriculum Improvement Cycle (CIC), being led by Education Scotland, which sets out to establish a process for systematically reviewing the curriculum in Scotland. This will allow Scotland’s curriculum to evolve over time in response to what children and young people need and what society demands. The focus of this first cycle of review will be the evolution of the technical framework for the curriculum from 3–18 and improving how progression is supported from BGE into the senior phase. This work includes a review cycle for Gaelic, recognising the importance of developing a curriculum specifically tailored for Gaelic Medium Education (GME).

In the senior phase, we will review the balance of assessment approaches and broaden the range and types of assessment methods used in National Courses.

We will review and rationalise qualifications currently used in the senior phase and work to create the conditions where all qualification types are perceived as having equal value. We will also co-design and develop a digital profile that will act as standardised framework for recognising young people’s wider skills and achievements, as well as qualifications, with strong underpinnings for comparability and recognition outside school.

Our collective aim is to ensure our children and young people acquire and gain recognition for the knowledge, skills, understanding, attributes, and capabilities that will equip them for future success. The reforms will protect and build on key strengths within our curriculum and approach to qualifications, assessment and skills development but they will make some important and much-needed improvements. The changes will ensure the curriculum, assessment and range of qualification types available to learners in Scotland remain forward looking, inclusive and support high quality teaching and learning, and improved attainment and achievement for all.