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

Curriculum, Qualifications and Assessment Reform – Timeline

This diagram illustrates our current and shared understanding of how reform to curriculum, qualifications and assessment will be taken forward over a number of years. The diagram starts in 2025 with the Curriculum Improvement Cycle well underway (the Cycle having commenced in early 2024) and concludes with the availability of new qualifications at SCQF Levels 6 and 7 in 2032. The timeline has been developed by the Scottish Government in conjunction with key partners including Education Scotland and SQA and has also been tested with the Curriculum Assessment Board.

Expected key dates include:

• Scotland’s Learner Profile via My World of Work moves from early experience to national roll out in the summer of 2025.
• Start of a new qualification product type design phase in the autumn of 2025.
• The publication of the draft evolved curriculum technical framework in the summer of 2026.
• Rebalancing assessment in existing national qualifications, with a change of approach in the first subjects from 2026.
• A significant period for preparing for the evolved technical framework from January 2027.
• · Start of new qualification development phase at subject level in 2028.
• Formal adoption^[4] of the evolved technical framework in two stages from 2028.
  • Adoption of changes to Early, First, Second and Third Level from August 2028
  • Phased adoption of changes to fourth level and beyond from August 2029
• Level 4 and Level 5 National Qualifications aligned to the evolved curriculum technical framework from 2031.

The diagram shows the key strands of reform over time. Orange and yellow bars indicate changes to curriculum and qualifications including the Curriculum Improvement Cycle/development of new approaches to assessment. The text highlighted in blue shows where it is expected that key milestone or outputs (e.g. new document, tool or guidance) will be released. The expected major milestones, for example the adoption of new qualifications, are noted in Annex C.

The graphic is designed to help local authorities, education settings and educators start to prepare for change. For example, it allows the reader to see that an updated curriculum is being developed now, when we expect that to be formally adopted in 2028 and when associated qualifications will start to become available in 2031. The diagram therefore illustrates the period of time the system has to prepare for change including in respect of a period of professional learning.

If viewing the timetable from the perspective of a learner, it is worth noting that a young person currently entering primary seven later this year, can expect to be in the first group to experience the evolved technical framework in the third year of secondary school.