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What the Curriculum and Assessment Review said about English

The review asked for significant changes to GCSE English Language and diverse books and poems in English Literature. The government accepted six of its eight English recommendations in full. The revised curriculum is taught from September 2028.

News · 3 minute read

The Department for Education published the final report of the Curriculum and Assessment Review, Building a world-class curriculum for all, on 5 November 2025, with the government’s response on the same day. The review was chaired by Professor Becky Francis.

Schools Week’s list of the subject recommendations, with the government’s verdict on each, gives eight for English. The government accepted these in full:

  • a clearer purpose for English at each key stage
  • clearer requirements for speaking and listening and for drama (the government will also create a drama section in the Key Stage 3 programme of study)
  • an oracy framework to sit alongside the existing frameworks for reading and writing
  • a review of grammar content, to decide what should move to later key stages
  • “significant changes” to the Key Stage 4 programme of study and the GCSE English Language subject content
  • a review of the genres set for Key Stage 4 and GCSE English Literature, so that students study diverse books and poems alongside a recognised body of English literature

The government did not accept the other two as they stood. The proposal to replace the Key Stage 2 grammar, punctuation and spelling test was partly accepted: the Standards and Testing Agency will review the existing test. The proposal for “diagnostic Maths and English tests to be taken in Year 8” was not accepted. The government chose a statutory Year 8 reading test of fluency and comprehension, and expects every school to assess progress in writing and maths in Year 8, with support to choose from a range of products. The details are in A national Year 8 reading assessment.

Set texts and exam time

On Literature, the government response says: “We agree with the Review’s recommendation that the curriculum should continue to draw on a recognised body of English literature, including at least one play by Shakespeare, one 19th-century novel, poetry, and fiction or drama from the British Isles from 1914 onwards.” It adds: “We will also consider the amounts of literature required to avoid an increase in content.”

On exams, the report says time spent on them at GCSE “should be reduced, through a subject-by-subject approach”. The government has committed to “reducing the amount of time pupils spend in GCSE exams by 2.5-3 hours on average”. As of October 2026 it has not said how much of that cut falls on English.

What it means for English departments

  • Students in Years 8 to 11 in the 2026 to 2027 school year have started, or will start, their GCSE courses before 2029, so they will take the current specifications.
  • Shakespeare and a 19th-century novel stay. The open questions for Literature are how much literature is required and which genres.
  • GCSE English Language is the qualification marked for “significant changes”. In its recommendations on media literacy, the report also asks that it include analysis of “multi-modal and ephemeral text types”. A footnote to the government response defines transient or ephemeral texts as texts “that are effectively not permanent, such as blog posts or social media posts”.
  • At Key Stage 3, expect a drama section and clearer expectations for speaking and listening in the programme of study taught from September 2028.

What happens next

The government will publish the revised national curriculum in 2027 for first teaching in 2028, and update GCSEs “for first teaching from 2029 onwards”. AQA expects the first phase of new GCSEs to be taught from 2029 and a second from 2030. As of 5 October 2026, the DfE has not said which phase English is in. Its consultation on the draft programmes of study and the first group of GCSEs, promised for September 2026, had not opened by 5 October 2026: see When the new national curriculum and GCSEs arrive.

Sources

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