England makes ‘real-life' skills compulsory in school curriculum

In the first major overhaul in over a decade, the national curriculum for England’s schools is being updated to include skills that are useful in practical life skills such as managing mortgages, spotting AI-generated fake news, and understanding climate change.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson announced the said changes aiming to design a “cutting edge” curriculum that prepares students for real-life challenges in the modern world.

Most of the amendments are proposed in light of an independent review conducted by professor Becky Francis.

“Financial literacy was the most highlighted area of importance by parents and the one topic that was consistently raised by every single focus group with young people,” said Professor Francis, indicating “high inflation” and “digital economy” as key drivers.

Major reforms in the curriculum include:

• From 2028 onwards, primary and secondary pupils will learn budgeting, mortgages, and online financial transactions in maths and citizenship classes.
• Students will be taught how to identify content generated by artificial intelligence to spot fake news and disinformation.
• The government will discontinue “English Baccalaureate (EBacc)” as it is identified as “constraining” in order to encourage more students to take arts subjects alongside core academics.
• GCSE exam time will be cut by up to three hours per student on average.

The head teacher’s union broadly welcomed the reforms, calling them “sensible” and “evidence-based.”

However, they highlighted the dire need for “sufficient funding” and urged teachers to implement these reforms effectively.