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The press release issued by the Department for Education on 20 January 2011.

The Secretary of State for Education today announced a major review of the national curriculum in England.

The review will be led by the Department for Education, supported by an advisory committee and expert panel made up of top teachers, academics and business representatives.

The review will:

• replace the current substandard curriculum with one based on the best school systems in the world, providing a world-class resource for teachers and children
• consider what subjects should be compulsory at what age
• consider what children should be taught in the main subjects at what age

Education Secretary Michael Gove said:

We have sunk in international league tables and the national curriculum is substandard. Meanwhile the pace of economic and technological change is accelerating and our children are being left behind. The previous curriculum failed to prepare us for the future. We must change course. Our review will examine the best school systems in the world and give us a world-class curriculum that will help teachers, parents and children know what children should learn at what age.

Chair of the expert panel, Tim Oates, said:

The national curriculum that we have at the moment has led teachers to move with undue pace through material and encouraged a ‘tick list’ approach to teaching. We will work with the advisory committee, as well as appraising carefully both international and national research, as part of this review. We will make changes only where justified, in order to avoid unnecessary disruption to the education system.

Members of the advisory committee and expert group welcomed today’s review.

Shahed Ahmed, Head of Elmhurst Primary School, Forest Gate, and advisory committee member, said:

I believe this review will be very helpful to re-establish that the best way to teach the primary national curriculum is through a rigorous subject-based approach. It would also be very helpful if the national curriculum is slimmed down so that schools have more time and flexibility to fit in what else they think it important to have in their own school curriculum. I also think it important to emphasise that a good grounding in the basics is the foundation to being creative.

Dame Yasmin Bevan, Executive Principal and Head of Denbigh High School and Challney High School for Boys, and advisory committee member, said:

We need a national curriculum review to establish clarity about what teachers must teach, what children must learn and what parents can expect of their children’s learning. We want to avoid overload, allowing time to ensure concepts, knowledge skills and understanding are fully developed. We also want to establish clarity about the standards we expect our young people to achieve so that they can compete confidently with the best of their peers globally.

Mike Harris, education skills lead at the Institute of Directors, and advisory committee member, said:

Education is on the frontline of the battle for the UK’s future competitiveness. We need to be confident that what we teach, the way in which we teach it, and how we assess and examine the knowledge we impart, matches the best in the world. The national curriculum review will play an important part in that effort.

Professor Nigel Thrift, Vice Chancellor, Warwick University, and advisory committee member, said:

The national curriculum review is important for universities. We need a national curriculum that delivers the knowledge children need to attend university and we need it now. Too often we find that, despite teachers’ hard work and dedication, children do not have what we would consider as the basics in the disciplines that they wish to study at university, and the hope is that – in conjunction with other changes in the educational landscape – this state of affairs can be changed for the better.

Professor Dylan Wiliam, former Deputy Director at the Institute of Education, Professor of Educational Assessment, and expert panel member, said:

There is growing acceptance all over the world that the quality of the teacher is the most important determinant of how much students learn. In this context, it makes sense to check that the national curriculum provides the right balance between providing a firm structure for shared national expectations for what students should learn and allowing enough scope for teachers to have the freedom to use their creativity to maximise student learning.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 19 January 2011.

Sixth-form colleges in England will receive much needed investment as Schools Minister Lord Hill today announces a £90 million package of funding. The money will enable sixth-form colleges to make essential improvements to buildings and will help those schools and academies with sixth forms to meet the demand for additional 16-19 student places.

The funding package for 2011-12 includes:

• £57.4 million to address priority building condition needs of the sixth-form college estate
• £30 million for basic need funding for 16-19 student places to help sixth-form colleges, schools and academies meet the demands of demographic changes
• making all sixth-form colleges eligible for Devolved Formula Capital for the first time – funding for maintenance will be given directly to the institution. This means the average sixth-form college will receive an additional £40,000.

Announcing the funding package, Schools Minister Lord Hill said:

I know that there are sixth-form colleges with building needs which have missed out on previous capital programmes. I have therefore allocated more than £57 million to address priority building condition needs within the sixth-form college sector.

Even where funding is tight, it is essential that buildings and equipment are properly maintained to ensure that health and safety standards are met, and to prevent a backlog of decay building up which is very expensive to address. I am therefore also pleased to announce that in 2011-12 all sixth-form colleges will become eligible for Devolved Formula Capital. The average allocation to a sixth-form college will be in the region of £40,000. This funding is primarily for planned maintenance and is in addition to the £57 million for building condition needs.

This Government is committed to ensuring that all young people have the opportunity to continue in education and training after the age of 16. I therefore want to ensure that funding is available to meet the need for additional places where there are demographic pressures in schools, academies and sixth-form colleges. £30 million will be made available in the coming financial year for basic need funding for 16-19 student places in these institutions.

David Igoe, Chief Executive of the Sixth-form Colleges Forum, said:

Sixth-form colleges will warmly welcome this announcement of capital allocations for 2011-12. These allocations will enable them to undertake essential maintenance and refurbishment with some new building also possible. This will greatly enhance sixth-form colleges’ ability to sustain high-quality education in these challenging times. Sixth-form colleges have missed out on capital over the last two years and it is very encouraging to see the Government redressing this unfairness.

The Government has been clear about the central role that sixth-form colleges play in the education system. That is why we are reducing red tape and giving them more freedom. As previously announced, the Department is ending the routine Ofsted inspections of sixth-form colleges rated outstanding and is simplifying the 16-19 funding allocations process to schools and colleges.