Breadth of subject focus

GuildHE argues that the curriculum should be broad and balanced, offering students a wide range of subjects to study. We are concerned that the current focus on certain academic subjects is narrowing the curriculum and limiting students’ opportunities. The arts and physical education must play a more essential role, not just to improve equality of opportunity, but because they are important to the future health and wellbeing of our nation. 

The deprioritisation of creative subjects through Progress/Attainment 8 and the eBacc has also led to a significant decline in the delivery of these important subjects due to the impact of school resource prioritisation. The lack of a strong creative curriculum jeopardises a diverse talent pipeline into one of our country’s strongest industries as well as exposing gaps in the creative skills needed for many types of careers. Overall, this has the potential to weaken our economy and societal wellbeing. We are advocating for Government to:

1. Ensure that every child receives a solid foundation of creative education skills
2. Drive the recruitment and training of specialist creative arts/education teachers
3. Put the creativity back into creative arts / cultural arts education
4. Review creative arts / cultural education assessment and qualifications to protect valuable qualifications in the long term and recognise / value creative skills
5. Assign equal value to STEM and arts and humanities subjects

Well rounded society

We must also ensure that what is taught in schools is relevant to the needs of the 21st century and supports young people for the rest of their lives, not just to learn future employment skills. We advocate for a curriculum that develops core competencies such as:

• Digital literacy: including information literacy (developing awareness of misinformation, quality sources, bias), digital tool proficiency such as AI, file storage and word processing and accessibility awareness.
• Communication and collaboration: developing strong verbal skills and presentation abilities (both in person and online) and encouraging teamwork and group work.
• Personal and social skills: covering equality, diversity, relationships, mental health, and life skills including financial management.
• Adaptability: preparing students for a rapidly changing world, building resilience and supporting their transition to higher education.
• Global citizenship: fostering understanding of global issues and environmental sustainability.

Many of these core competencies echo the 2022 report by the Skills and Productivity Board who provide independent, evidence-based advice to ministers at the Department for Education on matters relating to skills and their contribution to productivity. We hope that as part of DfE’s ongoing thinking it will include this type of evidence in the design of new curriculums and, longer term, work collaboratively with Skills England on reviewing skills gaps. 

More career advice and guidance is also needed – and not just based on political priorities, but genuinely rooted in regional economic needs and opportunities as well as aspiration raising and consideration of wider further learning options. Access to enhanced careers advice and guidance should include schools, students and family members. 

Support teachers with the right resources

We also must ensure that teachers have the right support and resources to deliver a high-quality curriculum and that schools have access to specialist teachers. As the secretariat for the Teacher Education Advisory Group, GuildHE knows that whilst HE teacher training provides teachers with the skills to deliver a broad curriculum in flexible ways, the pressures of teaching through resources and performance metrics means that curriculums are often watered down and focus on knowledge retrieval and an assessment led approach rather than broader thinking skills, enthusiasm and curiosity for learning. While employer-led training is valuable, university-based ITT provides a comprehensive skill set that is wider than learning how to teach to assessment. Performance measures undoubtedly impact on the behaviours of schools. We support the recent government policy to remove the Russell group metric from school performance targets but wish for a more holistic review to take place which looks at the consequences of metrics on behaviour. For example, without reforming progress/attainment 8, schools will continue to deprioritise arts and sports from the curriculum. 

Assessment and qualification options

We think schools should move away from the primary assessment method being an examination. We do not think this approach suits all learners and demonstrates only one skill. Portfolios, essays and other assessment methodologies would provide a far richer experience for learners and develop different types of skills – and would better mimic further study at higher education and tasks in employment. The production of practical work means HE providers can take a holistic approach to admissions decision-making.

We are in full support of the #protectstudentchoice campaign and urge the government to pause and rethink the defunding of BTEC programmes and review the delivery of T levels to see if they are a genuinely viable alternative qualification route that is deliverable in all areas of the country. 

GuildHE members continually say that the students they accept with BTEC qualifications provide students with the best foundations for HE study. Our institutions offer ‘applied’ qualifications in a variety of subjects including education and community service; healthcare; agriculture, food, and the built environment; business and law; and the creative arts. If applied qualifications were removed from the qualification pool we believe it would have adverse consequences, especially for pupils with SEND and those who do not thrive in purely academic settings. Furthermore, applied qualifications are also a useful route for adults wishing to re-enter education and T levels do not offer the same opportunities. 

Read GuildHE’s full response to the DfE consultation