EBacc limiting pupils’ access to vocational and arts subjects, review chief says

A Government performance measure for schools in England may be “limiting” pupils’ access to vocational and arts subjects, the lead of an independent review of curriculum and assessment said.

Professor Becky Francis, chairwoman of the Government’s curriculum and assessment review, said evidence suggests the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) measure “may constrain choices” for secondary school pupils.

Her comments follow calls from the education sector for the EBacc – a government measure which aims to ensure pupils take English, maths, science, a humanities subject and a language at GCSE – to be scrapped.

Addressing the annual conference of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) in Liverpool, Prof Francis set out the areas of the curriculum that the panel felt needed “further attention”.

She suggested there has been “a trade-off between breadth and depth” in the existing curriculum offer and she added that evidence suggests the EBacc is “impacting students’ engagement and achievement”.

Prof Francis said existing national assessments and qualifications – including Sats, GCSEs, A-levels and T-levels – were “broadly working well.”

In July, the Labour Government announced that Prof Francis, chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), would lead their independent curriculum and assessment review.

In a speech to hundreds of schools and college leaders on Saturday, Prof Francis said it was right that the national curriculum was “refreshed” to ensure it remains “cutting edge and fit for purpose”.

She said: “But while we have a broad offer, evidence suggests a trade-off between breadth and depth which can make it harder for pupils to master a subject fully.

“We’ve identified that some features of the current system make the delivery of this broad and balanced curriculum challenging.

“Responses to the call for evidence, and advocates for some subjects, suggests that the EBacc may constrain choices, impacting students’ engagement and achievement, and limiting access to, and the time available for, vocational and arts subjects.”

Prof Francis highlighted a slide during her speech which suggested that teaching time for some subjects – including the arts, design and technology and computing and ICT – had reduced at Key Stage 4.

She said: “We’ll analyse the evidence and assess the place of performance measures within the wider accountability framework, looking at the impact on young people’s choices and outcomes and the impact on institutional behaviours.”

In September, Prof Francis launched a call for evidence – an eight-week consultation – seeking views on the curriculum and assessment system.

She added: “Global, social and environmental challenges require attention to scientific and cultural knowledge and skills that can equip young people to meet the challenges of the future.

“Rapid social, environmental and technical change necessitates that the curriculum keeps pace, including a renewed focus on digital and media literacy and on sustainability and climate science.

“We know that many schools already teach such areas of knowledge within curriculum subjects, so we will map existing coverage and ensure that gaps are addressed and content brought up to date.”

On Saturday, Prof Francis said the review’s interim report would be ready “exceedingly soon”.

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the ASCL, said: “We agree wholeheartedly with Professor Francis that the EBacc puts unnecessary constraints on students.

“It has also put constraints on schools that have had to prioritise their limited resources on EBacc subjects, with arts and technology subjects suffering as a result.

“Our hope is that, through the curriculum and assessment review, the EBacc will be scrapped and more done to encourage the studying of creative subjects that have been sidelined in recent years.”

Tom Rees, who is leading the Government’s expert advisory group on inclusion, launched a call for evidence about effective inclusion in mainstream schools on Saturday.

The project, called Inclusion In Practice, aims to identify and share practical, scalable solutions for inclusion in mainstream schools.

Addressing ASCL’s annual conference, Mr Rees, who is chief executive of Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT), said the current special educational needs and disabilities (Send) system was “bad”.

In his speech to the conference, Mr Di’Iasio, general secretary of ASCL, said the Send system was “failing too many young people”.

He said: “I know the Education Secretary recognises the scale of the challenge and is committed to change, but action cannot come soon enough.”

During his address to school and college leaders, the ASCL chief also criticised Ofsted’s proposed “Nando’s-style” five-point grading scale for inspections and called on the education watchdog to “rethink” its plans.

He said: “There is still time to pull back from the brink of an approach that will quickly fall into disrepute and disarray.”