It’s been a big week for education. After months of speculation, the Curriculum and Assessment Review Final Report is finally here and, for once, it feels like we’re pointing in the right direction.
There’s plenty to welcome. We now have a clearer sense of purpose for each key stage and, crucially, a renewed focus on getting the foundations right. The proposals to strengthen early fluency, sharpen reasoning and problem solving, and tackle that tricky Key Stage 2 to 3 transition feel spot on.
It’s also great to see recognition of the importance of teachers being involved in shaping and feeding back on any new programmes of study. Change works best when it’s done with the profession, not to it.
Over the last decade, maths education in England has climbed a long way. We’ve built professional expertise, invested in curriculum materials, and created a shared language around teaching for understanding. We’ve come a long way up the mountain and that progress deserves real credit.
But if I’m honest (and I’ve said it as few times), it feels like we’ve been at a basecamp for a while now. We’ve reached a point of stability and consistency, which is an achievement in itself, yet the next ascent has been waiting for a signal – something bold enough to move us forward again.
The curriculum review could be exactly that signal. The curriculum could be that catalyst that gets us moving to the next camp. The key is that we climb together. In the past, some have slipped from the path, perhaps losing confidence, enthusiasm, or the firm footing of strong foundations. This time, we can’t leave anyone behind on the mountain.
From vision to investment
Budgets are tight – we all know it, and it’s what we hear every day. That’s why we have to use what we’ve got wisely. Rather than spreading our efforts thin, we should focus on a smaller number of programmes that deliver maximum impact.
In my view, the biggest long-term gains will come from getting the foundations right – deep conceptual understanding, high-quality curriculum resources, and evidence-based programmes that truly help teachers teach well.
Just as phonics brought structure and clarity to early reading, maths needs its own ecosystem of well-researched, high-quality options. But not a single mandated programme. Choice matters. Schools should be able to choose the approach that best fits their pupils, from a market of trusted providers, all aligned to the same curriculum spine.
Alongside all this, we need ambition. Becky Francis’s report has a clear thread of ambition running through it built on “aspirational entitlements for all.” We’ve spent years debating what we mean by foundations in maths, and the new curriculum will finally set out (hopefully with greater clarity) what we want children to know. Now we need a national target for what we want them to achieve. We have one for reading, so why not for maths? What could be more important at this stage of a child’s life?
The reasoning and problem-solving challenge
I was delighted to see the report’s repeated emphasis on reasoning and problem solving. Those words appeared again and again. As Will Power puts it in his excellent response, “Developing problem-solving skills, especially in Key Stage 2, is vital… There should be explicit teaching of domain-specific strategies so pupils build a bank of patterns and models.”
He’s right. We’ve talked about reasoning and problem solving a lot over the last decade, but international comparisons show it’s still an area where we can do better. The language of reasoning matters, but are we asking the right questions to draw it out?
In addition, our approach to problem solving feels ad hoc, often varying from lesson to lesson, teacher to teacher. We need a shared language and framework that anchors us.
This remains one of the toughest challenges ahead and a key part of the climb still to come.
KS3: a national challenge
If we’re serious about progress here, we need a long-term mission. In the past, I’ve called for a National 10-Year Challenge for maths. By 2038, no child should lose the progress they make in primary, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Imagine a network of National Maths Challenge Leads, working with schools and trusts to embed the new curriculum, strengthen teaching, and close the gap once and for all. This could a real system for change, a system that uses every lever, from curriculum and assessment to CPD and resources, all pulling in the same direction.
The new curriculum will give us a clearer destination. The question is whether we stay at basecamp or begin the next ascent.
We’ve made great progress to reach this point and we should be proud of that. However the summit is still ahead. The curriculum review, and the three priorities above could be the very thing that helps us climb higher together.
We’ve been given the what. Now we need the how, the support, and the ambition to keep moving.
This could be the moment we have been waiting for – the start of a new chapter for maths education built on clarity, ambition and shared purpose.
And that’s what Tony Reckons.
