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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Jasmine Norden

Students to face less time in exams in shake-up of GCSEs

GCSE (Organization)
  • The government has announced that GCSE exam time for students could be reduced by up to three hours on average, following a curriculum review that criticised the current volume as 'excessive'.
  • The review recommended a 10 per cent reduction in exam volume at Key Stage 4, new maths and English tests for Year 8 pupils, and mandatory citizenship education in primary schools.
  • The Department for Education confirmed it would scrap the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) performance measure and introduce a statutory entitlement for all GCSE pupils to study triple science.
  • Professor Becky Francis, who led the curriculum review, stated that the UK is an “international outlier” in the number and volume of exams for 16-year-olds.
  • The revised national curriculum is expected to be published by spring 2027 and implemented for first teaching from September 2028, with further reforms to tests and qualifications also planned.

IN FULL

GCSE exam times to be slashed under new government plans

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