Building a World-Class Curriculum for All

Why Legislating for Regular Curriculum Reviews Matters and Why This One is So Important Now. Paula Orrell (CVAN) states why the recommendations provide a blueprint for renewal. If implemented, they would ensure a rich, balanced, and future-ready education for every child in England.

The publication of Building a World-Class Curriculum for All, the final report of the Curriculum and Assessment Review led by Professor Becky Francis CBE, marks one of the most significant education policy moments in over a decade.

At its heart lies a simple but powerful principle: every child in England deserves a rich, balanced, and future-ready education, one that values creativity, critical thinking, and the arts alongside academic rigour.

A decade in the making

It has been more than ten years since the national curriculum was last reviewed. During that time, the world has undergone dramatic changes, politically, socially, technologically, and culturally. The last decade has witnessed the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, the rise of online misinformation, a global pandemic, and the increasing recognition of the creative industries as a significant driver of UK growth.

Yet during that same period, arts education in schools has steadily declined. Between 2010 and 2023, entries to GCSE arts subjects declined by over 40%, teachers and facilities were removed from schools, and generations of young people lost access to the creative opportunities that once defined Britain’s educational identity.

The new Review offers a long-overdue correction. It formally recommends that the Government remove the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), a policy that effectively sidelined the arts for over a decade, and gives arts GCSEs equal status to humanities and languages. For the first time in years, creativity will once again take centre stage in every young person's education.

Why this Review matters now

Beyond rebalancing the curriculum, the Review recognises that visual literacy is a form of civic literacy. In a world saturated with digital imagery, data, and misinformation, the ability to interpret and question what we see is as essential as reading and writing. Art and design education are no longer just cultural subjects; they are tools for navigating truth, bias, and representation in a visual age.

The Review’s vision connects directly to the future of work and innovation. The creative industries contribute over £124 billion a year to the UK economy and employ millions across every region. Ensuring a strong creative education pipeline is not a luxury; it’s a matter of national prosperity.

Why do we need to legislate

One of the Review’s most important recommendations is for the Government to formalise a ten-year national curriculum review cycle, with light-touch updates in between.

The report makes clear that:

• “Reviews that are too frequent disrupt schools and teachers.”
• “Reviews that are too infrequent risk the curriculum becoming dated and unfit for purpose.”
• “A ten-year cycle balances stability and responsiveness, allowing time for changes to bed in.”

It also underlines the principle that:

“National curriculum content must be kept up to date, fit for purpose and reflective of the needs of wider society. Periodic holistic reviews are essential for ensuring these aims are achieved.”

This is a vital safeguard, but as it stands, it is a recommendation, not a legal commitment. Without legislation, the risk remains that future governments could delay or abandon reviews, leaving curriculum design vulnerable to neglect or political ideology.

Embedding a ten-year review cycle in law would:

• Guarantee continuity and stability for schools, teachers, and learners.
• Protect the arts and creative subjects from policy drift and marginalisation.
• Ensure that sector voices — including educators, artists, industry professionals, and researchers — are systematically included in shaping future updates.
• Create a culture of long-term accountability and evidence-led policy.

A call for action

At CVAN, we see this as a pivotal moment to safeguard creativity within education for generations to come. Legislating for a regular, independent curriculum review would not only protect the integrity of this work but also ensure that creativity and the visual arts remain central to how young people learn to see, question, and shape the world around them.

The Review’s recommendations provide a blueprint for renewal. If implemented, they would ensure a rich, balanced, and future-ready education for every child in England. It is now up to the Government to ensure they endure and bring these benefits to our education system.

Creativity must not depend on political will — it must be a right. Read the full report: Curriculum and Assessment Review: Building a World-Class Curriculum for All (DfE, November 2025) Read CVAN's full policy briefing: here