At Skills Builder Partnership, we know educators are deeply invested in building essential skills to prepare learners for life and work beyond school, with 97% of teachers believing these skills to be as or more important than academic attainment. In line with this, we're committed to helping educators stay ahead of key developments that impact teaching and learning, and the building of essential skills.

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In this webinar:

Attendees heard from Skills Builder Head of Policy and External Affairs, Alice Chan, who outlined policy developments in areas such as the Curriculum and Assessment Review, Ofsted reforms, teacher training, and the government’s upcoming Youth and Post-16 Skills strategies.

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Key Policy Updates

Curriculum and Assessment Review: A growing focus on skills

The independent Curriculum & Assessment Review, led by Professor Becky Francis, will provide recommendations for changes to 4–19 education in England. The interim report (published in March 2025) underlined the importance of essential skills in the curriculum:

• Future readiness: The report acknowledges the need for essential skills to prepare young people for social and technological changes (like AI and the future workplace).
• Learner & parent demand: The report confirms a strong desire from both learners and parents for essential skills development. Essential skills like Creativity, Problem Solving and Communication were among the top priorities for parents and learners in polling carried out on behalf of the review panel.
• Embedding essential skills across the curriculum: The report also raised important questions about how essential skills are currently covered and how they can be better integrated across the curriculum.

The final report is expected in autumn 2025 and will shape future changes to the National Curriculum, assessment, and qualification routes.

Ofsted Reforms: A new approach to improvement

Changes are underway in how school performance is supported and judged – with a focus on collaboration and transparency:

• RISE Teams: New Regional Improvement Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams have been introduced to support eligible schools. The RISE teams will fund external organisations to provide support or offer guidance and signpost best practice.
• Report cards: The consultation on replacing single-word Ofsted judgments with 'report cards' has concluded. We await a response in the coming months, before a planned September introduction for the new report cards.
• School profiles: The DfE is exploring a "one-stop shop" online profile for all school data, aiming to simplify access to school and college performance information.
  

Wider Policy: Training, youth & post-16 Skills

Beyond curriculum and accountability, there have been some developments in other policy areas:

• Teacher training: While less ambitious than other reforms, the Early Careers Framework review will start in September 2027, and consultations on some Leadership National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) are underway.
• Youth strategy: The government plans to publish a youth strategy this year, following extensive engagement with young people. An interim report is expected in June.
• Post-16 skills strategy: The government has announced plans to publish a skills strategy before summer 2025.
  
  

For more in-depth analysis and the Q&A session, you can watch the complete recording in the video below.

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