The Academy of Social Sciences has responded to the UK Government’s Curriculum and Assessment Review for England and a full response, including evidence cited, can be found here.
The focus of the Academy’s response was on the contributions that the study of social sciences in the curriculum make to learning, skills, and to the preparation for further study and work. We included evidence to support the case for the continued inclusion of the social sciences in curriculum 5-14 through an anchor social science subject, and thereafter throughout 14-19 education with a continuing good range of subject choices at GCSE and A Level. This stems from the Academy’s strong belief in their educational value in terms of knowledge, understanding and skills; their strengths in supporting social mobility, employability, and a civic consciousness; and from the perspective of the pipeline into higher education and specialist professional areas.
The response was jointly developed with several of our member learned societies and Fellows’ whose expertise lies in this area. We are very grateful for their contributions.
The Academy’s response centred around the following ten main messages:
- There is strong evidence that the current pathways for study of the social sciences – at 5-14, at GCSE and A Level, and in the more vocational pathways – deliver for large numbers of young people in enabling them to continue into employment directly from school or to progress to university to study a subject of their choice in the social sciences and thereafter into graduate employment. We strongly recommend that this review continues to support current GCSE and A level pathways and subjects in the social sciences, and the continuation of the core anchor social science subject (geography) throughout the 5-14 curriculum, to be equitably available to all regardless of school ‘type’, location or socio-economic status. The anchor subject at 5-14 provides an essential introduction for pupils to understanding people, communities, society, economy, and human / environment interactions. This is fundamental to their role as informed citizens of the future. The anchor also importantly opens a pathway to wider social science choices beyond 14 and especially at 16-19, and to excellent career prospects.
- The social sciences-focused vocational courses complement those of traditional GCSE and A Level routes and widen opportunities for employment in some areas of notable skills shortages, including social care. The Academy supports calls for greater porosity of ‘academic’ and ‘vocational’ pathways, enabling pupils to choose a mix of A Level and vocational courses, thus maximising their choices and chances for success.
- Social science subjects deliver learning of a rich range of transferable and subject-specific skills and embed them through real world examples relevant to students’ lives and experiences. This attracts and is inclusive of students from a wide range of backgrounds and supports social mobility. Transferable skills learned through these subjects include: research and enquiry skills, critical thinking skills, data, numeracy and statistical skills, communication skills – orally and in writing, problem solving skills, basic project skills, diversity awareness competencies, sustainability awareness and competencies, and team working competencies. Social sciences subject-specific skills include: political and media literacy, business skills, financial literacy, geospatial (computer mapping) skills and many others. Social sciences such as business studies, economics, geography, politics, sociology, and citizenship studies provide students with knowledge and skills to understand and help address real world issues, for example climate change stewardship.
- It is important to recognise that English and maths skills are not only taught through those subjects, but that their learning is reinforced, and given applied meaning and real-world relevance, through the curricula and teaching of the social sciences and other subjects. In addition, currently missing from the curriculum is the teaching of financial literacy, which is vital for young people whether pursuing employment or further education post-19. The social sciences offer an alternative or reinforcing vehicle for delivery of financial literacy through business and management courses.
- We agree with the stated need to balance knowledge and skills in the curriculum and the government’s central mission 5, breaking down the barriers to opportunity citing ‘the need to develop life skills, like communication, teamwork, and digital skills, which are essential for their futures.’ However, this is not simply an issue of adding additional skills or subjects, but it is an issue of recognising and ensuring teachers and students identify with the skills that are already embedded in, and taught in, existing subjects. The Academy of Social Sciences would not be supportive of a new standalone subject being introduced to teach ‘skills’ and would refer the panel to the substantive evidence that exists around the benefits of applied skills being embedded and reinforced through the teaching of other subjects at all key stages.
- Social science subjects are fundamental to developing and enhancing knowledge and skills in key areas essential to the UKs future (Skills and Post-16 Education Act, 2022). These include meeting the needs of the Industrial Strategy (stronger employment and economic growth), a culture of lifelong learning, and a greater civic role in communities. They also help meet employers demands for better numeracy skills among school leavers.
- Social science pathways offer learning of knowledge and skills that underpin our current economy, not least in the service industries sector. This sector accounted for 81% of total UK economic output (Gross Value Added) and 83% of employment in April–June 2024. They include the retail sector, the financial sector, the public sector, business administration, leisure and cultural activities. There remains a need also to develop the emerging new skills of the future, most notably green skills, Artificial Intelligence skills, and an extension of critical thinking skills to evaluate information reliability on the internet and social media. Many of these can be naturally embedded in the social sciences curricula, reinforcing them and bringing them to life in a real-world context.
- We recommend encouraging all teachers and pupils to recognise the skills they are being taught through cognition-based education as this helps to ensure better student outcomes. Students who recognise the value of their skills can then progress into employment understanding what they as individuals can contribute. The combination of knowledge and skills learned through the social sciences is in demand in all sectors, including the private, public and third sectors.
- Pupils need to have access to a broad range of options at GCSE and A level and not be constrained by undesirable practices in schools whereby option blocks and lack of careers advice are driving decisions and narrowing student agency. We refer to the 2024 report commissioned by the British Academy and published by National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) has shown students are increasingly narrowing the range of subjects they are taking at AS/A-level, especially since decoupling of the AS and A level occurred. Increasing proportions of students are electing to only study subjects that sit within the same major subject group (i.e. sector such as science, or social science). We strongly recommend that an AS equivalent be re-introduced to enable and encourage students to broaden their education.
- Finally, we reflect on the fact, and urge the review committee, to consider the wealth of published research and practice among the education research community on the topics of curriculum, pedagogy and student choice, alongside evidence from teachers and MATs, including the British Educational Research Association (BERA) ‘Curriculum in a Changing World: 50 think pieces on education, policy, practice, innovation & inclusion (2024)