Curriculum and Assessment Review

Baroness Barran Excerpts

Thursday 26th March 2026 Grand Committee

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

My Lords, I, too, would like to thank the noble Lord, Lord Freyberg, for his excellent introduction and for securing this short debate. As we have heard, the Curriculum and Assessment Review built on the work of the previous Government and is described as “evolution not revolution”. I briefly acknowledge the work that the last Government did in important areas: strengthening the evidence base around early reading, expanding the use of phonics and other structured programmes, investing in tutoring to help children to catch up after the pandemic and setting a much clearer expectation for a knowledge-rich curriculum.

We on these Benches welcome the chance to strengthen the curriculum, while in no way wishing to sacrifice the emphasis that has been placed on reading, writing, maths, sciences and modern languages, and ensuring that children can access the breadth of education, which noble Lords have expressed so eloquently today. We definitely share with the noble Lord, Lord Freyberg, the concerns about the impact of losing the EBacc on the uptake of modern foreign languages. We also have concerns about some of the proposed changes to the Progress 8 measure, which is out for consultation; the ill-famed soft bigotry of low expectations risks sneaking back into our schools.

We have seen a dramatic improvement in the global rankings for our children in reading, maths and sciences, yet I think all of us who have spoken in this debate want to see more enrichment opportunities for our children. Therefore, can the Minister say, first, what consideration the Government have given to the community budget that was available to schools to allow them to open their facilities to their wider community, such as swimming pools, sports facilities or drama facilities? My understanding is that the grant is gone, but surely that would be a way to use those facilities more. Secondly, what consideration has been given to building on the work of multi-academy trusts that are offering a longer school day? Some trusts add an hour a day—that is a year of extra time for a child’s education to include a bit of fun.