techUK responds to the Curriculum and Assessment Review
techUK recently submitted its response to the government’s Curriculum and Assessment Review Call for Evidence, sharing the tech sector’s view on how the curriculum must evolve to prepare learners for our digital future.
If the UK is to tackle growing skills gaps and mismatches in the labour market, then ensuring that the education system is preparing students with the skills and competencies they’ll need for the workplace will be a critical mission.
To inform our response, techUK recently surveyed parents and guardians working in technology to understand their views on how the education system is preparing their children for the future of work. You can find the headline findings from the research here.
The response was drafted with the support of techUK members and our Digital Skills in Education Policy Group. Priority areas for our members included:
Transferable skills
Digital and essential (‘soft’) skills are seen as critical for jobs and businesses across the economy, with relevance and application across a diversity of subject areas, fields and functions. We therefore recommended:
- Making digital skills a core component of initial teacher training and qualified teacher status
- Embedding digital skills and literacy, including AI literacy, as a cross-curricular competence
- Embedding essential skills in teaching and learning across the curriculum
Computing education
Inconsistencies surrounding the provision and uptake of computing qualifications, and the lack of an expectation that students meet a minimum qualification level in digital skills by the end of their compulsory education, is resulting in varied outcomes for learners. We recommended:
- All students have a right to access computing education and qualifications up to and including Key Stage 4
- Considering mandating technology courses up to the age of 16
- Reviewing computing qualifications on offer to ensure they are current and relevant, attractive to students from all backgrounds, and assess an appropriate range of digital skills
- Undertaking reviews of the digital technology and computing curriculum on a more regular basis
Technical and vocational education in schools
There is a growing demand for skilled workers in technical, vocational and creative fields. However, the pre-16 education system holds a distinctly academic focus that inhibits students from studying vocational subjects or navigating a coherent pathway into further technical education. We recommended:
- Reviewing compulsory subjects and the English Baccalaureate to ensure it does not restrict uptake of technical, vocational or creative subjects
- Exploring an alternative vocational-technical pathway at Key Stage 4
16-19 qualification pathways
There have been a number of instituted and proposed changes to the post-16 qualification offer. In order to foster confidence in the qualifications on offer, stability and support will be key. We emphasised:
- Maintaining support for Applied General Qualifications until T Levels are proven successful
- Taking steps to ensure the successful rollout of T Levels
- Protecting and bolstering apprenticeships for young people
- Reviewing functional skills requirements for relevance and considering a role for digital literacy
- Considering the role of industry-backed accreditation in ensuring courses are relevant and effective
The Curriculum and Assessment Review Panel are expected to publish an interim report in early 2025, drawing on key insights from the Call for Evidence, with a full report and final recommendations to be published later in the autumn.
We will be publishing a report covering core aspects of techUK’s response and key recommendations in more detail shortly. If you are interested in discussing our response in more detail, please contact Jake Wall.
Nimmi Patel
Nimmi Patel
Nimmi Patel is the Head of Skills, Talent and Diversity at techUK. She works on all things skills, education, and future of work policy, focusing on upskilling and retraining. Nimmi is also an Advisory Board member of Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (digit). The Centre research aims to increase understanding of how digital technologies are changing work and the implications for employers, workers, job seekers and governments.
Prior to joining the techUK team, she worked for the UK Labour Party and New Zealand Labour Party, and holds an MA in Strategic Communications at King’s College London and BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Manchester. She is currently taking part in the 2024-25 University of Bath Institute for Policy Research Policy Fellowship Programme.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Phone:
- 07805744520
- Twitter:
- @nimmiptl
- Website:
- www.techuk.org
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/nimmi-patel1/
Antony Walker
Antony Walker
Antony Walker is deputy CEO of techUK, which he played a lead role in launching in November 2013.
Antony is a member of the senior leadership team and has overall responsibility for techUK’s policy work. Prior to his appointment in July 2012 Antony was chief executive of the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG), the UK’s independent advisory group on broadband policy. Antony was closely involved in the development of broadband policy development in the UK since the BSG was established in 2001 and authored several major reports to government. He also led the development of the UK’s world leading Open Internet Code of Practice that addresses the issue of net neutrality in the UK. Prior to setting up the BSG, Antony spent six years working in Brussels for the American Chamber of Commerce following and writing about telecoms issues and as a consultant working on EU social affairs and environmental issues. Antony is a graduate of Aberdeen University and KU Leuven and is also a Policy Fellow Alumni of the Centre for Science and Policy at Cambridge University.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Phone:
- 07780603065
- Twitter:
- @techUKdepCEO
- Website:
- www.techuk.org/
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonywalker/
Jake Wall
Jake Wall
Jake has been the Policy Manager for Skills and Future of Work since May 2022, supporting techUK's work to empower the UK to skill, attract and retain the brightest global talent, and prepare for the digital transformations of the future workplace.
Previously, Jake was the Programme Assistant for Policy. He joined techUK in March 2019 and has also worked across the EU Exit, International Trade, and Cloud, Data Analytics and AI programmes.
He also holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Sussex, as well as a BA(Hons) in International Politics from Aberystwyth University. During his time at Aberystwyth University, he won the International Politics Dissertation Prize.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Twitter:
- @jww_tech,@jww_tech
- Website:
- www.techuk.org,https://www.techuk.org
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwwuk,https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwwuk
Archie Breare
Archie Breare
Archie Breare joined techUK in September 2022 as the Telecoms Programme intern, and moved into the Policy and Public Affairs team as the Team Assistant in February 2023 and as Public Affairs Manager in September 2023
Before starting at techUK, Archie was a student at the University of Cambridge, completing an undergraduate degree in History and a master's degree in Modern British History.
In his spare time, he likes to read, discuss current affairs, and to try and persuade himself to cycle more.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- LinkedIn:
- linkedin.com/in/archie-breare-512346230
