ASDAN responds to today’s Curriculum and Assessment Review: Re-centering education around skills, enrichment, and equity

The Department for Education’s Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR), published today, sets out a ten-year vision for a “world-class curriculum for all.” It recognises that, while England’s education system is academically strong, it has become narrow, over-assessed, and inequitable - particularly for disadvantaged learners and those at the margins. CAR calls for a curriculum that balances knowledge, skills, character, and enrichment, preparing learners for life, work, and citizenship.

We welcome this direction and align with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, who said: “The path to our country’s renewal runs through our schools. They must be an epicentre of the strongest possible foundations of knowledge, and the skills to excel in the modern world.”

For over 35 years, ASDAN has championed inclusive, skills-based education that develops the full spectrum of learner ability. Our programmes and qualifications embed Learning, Communicating, Decision-making, Thinking, Teamworking, and Self-awareness, equipping learners to engage with knowledge and apply it meaningfully in real-world contexts.

Broadening what counts as success

Melissa Farnham, ASDAN Chief Executive, said: “This review is a chance to ask fundamental questions about what we value in education. Learners’ creativity, empathy and resilience are central to our shared future, yet these qualities rarely find space in formal assessment. If we want a system that nurtures them, we need to broaden what counts as success.”

Across the sector, there is growing recognition that high-stakes, exam-dominated assessment captures only part of what learners know and can do. Research such as Yana Manyukhina’s 2025 analysis of child-centred, democratic education highlights learner agency, collaboration, and holistic development as central to effective curriculum design. Evidence from the Curriculum and Assessment for Systemic Learning Outcomes (CASLO) programme further shows the value of approaches that encourage reflection, collaboration, and authentic achievement alongside academic knowledge.

Re-humanising curriculum and assessment

Portfolio and project-based learning provides learners - particularly those whose strengths lie beyond conventional exams - with a way to demonstrate what they know and how they apply it. Our programmes and qualifications, including Personal Effectiveness Qualifications (PEQ), Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), Short Courses and upcoming Further Project Qualification (FPQ) and Higher Project Qualification (HPQ), integrate these approaches, helping learners showcase growth, potential, and skill in ways that align with CAR’s vision for a modern, life-ready curriculum.

Melissa Farnham added: “As artificial intelligence reshapes the world of work and learning, it becomes more important – not less – to celebrate what is uniquely human. Assessment should reflect the richness of human capability, not narrow it.”

Equity, inclusion and collaboration at the heart of reform

ASDAN believes that the new curriculum must place equity and inclusion at its core. Assessment should empower learners rather than create barriers. Delivering this will require collaboration across policymakers, educators, employers, researchers, and learners themselves.

Through partnerships such as CASLO, we are exploring how portfolio- and project-based learning can complement exams, strengthen teacher professionalism, and provide a fairer, more complete picture of achievement. Bringing together evidence from research and practice, the sector can create a balanced, humane, and future-ready assessment system that recognises the full breadth of learner capability.

Looking ahead

As the curriculum transitions towards first teaching in 2028, ASDAN is committed to supporting schools and colleges to adapt and lead. Learners will benefit from strong foundations of knowledge as well as the full range of skills and experiences outlined in CAR, preparing them for life, learning, and work.

Our programmes and qualifications put these principles into practice, helping learners develop the six core skills that prepare them for success in education, the workplace, and beyond.