Givan welcomes independent review of Northern Ireland Curriculum
Date published:
Education Minister Paul Givan has today published the findings of an independent Strategic Review of the Northern Ireland Curriculum, led by international education policy expert, Lucy Crehan.
Commissioned in November 2024, the review was a focused and time-bound evaluation of the current curriculum – the framework for what children are taught in schools, including subjects, knowledge and skills.
The report identifies significant weaknesses in the current curriculum, which had not been formally reviewed in over 17 years.
It recommends that the Department develops a new curriculum framework for Northern Ireland which has greater specificity about the important knowledge, concepts and skills that children should learn at each stage of their education.
Responding to the report, Paul Givan said:
“Since taking on the role of Education Minister, I’ve had the privilege of seeing the outstanding work taking place in our schools. However, I was concerned that our curriculum had not evolved in line with international developments – and that it no longer meets the needs of all our children and young people.
“Curriculum reform is a cornerstone of my TransformED agenda. That is why I appointed Lucy Crehan to lead this strategic review.
“Lucy has undertaken extensive consultation across Northern Ireland, engaging with teachers, schools, stakeholders and wider society. I want to thank her for her dedication to what was both a complex task and an ambitious timescale. The report published today sets a clear, ambitious and forward-thinking vision for the future of learning in Northern Ireland.”
Paul Givan continued:
“The Review and its recommendations provide a comprehensive assessment of our current curriculum and set out a compelling case for change. A case for a knowledge-rich curriculum that is carefully designed to ensure out pupils gain essential knowledge and skills through a clear, well-structured and coherent framework with carefully chosen content. This is a curriculum that gives every child – regardless of their start in life the cultural capital to succeed, breaking the cycle of poverty and promoting equity through the power of learning.”
Lucy Crehan commented:
“I have been honoured to lead this review and to engage with stakeholders across Northern Ireland to shape its findings. A purpose-led, knowledge-rich curriculum is transformative because it equips students with the foundational understanding and skill they need to navigate and shape the world. By ensuring the curriculum is also specific, coherent and inclusive, we can create equitable opportunities for all learners, bridging gaps that often stem from socio-economic disparities.”
A key recommendation of the Review is the establishment of a Curriculum Taskforce to take forward the design and development of a new curriculum for Northern Ireland. Paul Givan said:
“In the coming weeks, I will consider each of the report’s recommendations in detail and formally respond. However, one of its most significant proposals is the establishment of a dedicated Taskforce to oversee the development of a new curriculum framework.
“I am pleased to announce that Christine Counsell will Chair the new Taskforce, bringing her deep expertise in curriculum design. Lucy Crehan will continue her invaluable work, as deputy Chair to ensure continuity in the reform process.”
The Taskforce will work collaboratively with educators across Northern Ireland to translate the review’s recommendations into a practical, ambitious curriculum framework.
The Minister concluded:
“We are taking bold and necessary steps toward a knowledge-rich, purpose-led curriculum that is specific, focused, and continuous. The report has highlighted how a focus on knowledge has immense power to transform the life chances of young people and support the objectives that the current curriculum sets out. This new approach will support continuity across key stages, promote equity, and ensure that every child has access to high-quality learning that prepares them for both life and work.”
Commenting on the announcement, Christine Counsell said:
"I am delighted and hugely privileged to chair the new Northern Ireland Curriculum Taskforce. The Taskforce will work to create a new world-leading school curriculum that is both equitable and ambitious. A curriculum grounded in powerful knowledge—carefully selected, coherently sequenced and taught with purpose. A curriculum that cultivates curiosity, hones analytical skills, enables critical thinking and prepares young people to engage with complex ideas.”
Notes to editors:
Notes to editors:
- The final report, “A Foundation for the Future: Developing Capabilities Through a Knowledge-Rich Curriculum in Northern Ireland”, was published on 3 June and can be viewed at Review of the Northern Ireland Curriculum | Department of Education
- Lucy Crehan is an international education consultant, specializing in comparative education policy. She has worked with a wide range of international bodies such as UNESCO and the World Bank on national policy reform and has most recently written the National Teacher Policy for Guyana. She is the International Director of the Centre for Education Systems, and an Associate Advisor on Curriculum at Swansea University.
- Christine Counsell taught in state schools in England before holding roles as local authority adviser, leader of the history PGCE course at the University of Cambridge, Director of Education at a Multi-Academy Trust and, currently, founder and Director of Opening Worlds, a humanities programme of curriculum, resources and training adopted by 300 primary schools. Alongside these roles, she has worked extensively in consultancy roles both nationally and internationally, including specialising in the teaching of history in post-conflict zones (Cyprus and Lebanon) and advising England’s Ofsted and Department of Education.
- The report explains that the current curriculum has core structural weaknesses that must be addressed. These include:
- A lack of specificity leading to inequality and variation in curriculum implementation, as well as contributing to curriculum overload.
- A lack of coherence over time, inhibiting progression and leading to difficulties at transitions. The importance of prior knowledge is not sufficiently recognised and the framework does not facilitate the gradual building of knowledge over time.
- A lack of articulation about the role of subject-specific knowledge and skill and its relationship with broader skills and the ultimate aims of the curriculum.
- A lack of appropriateness for some young people with special educational needs, learners in Irish-immersion contexts and some disadvantaged young people.
5. The review recommends the need for a new curriculum framework framed around five key principles: purpose-led, knowledge-rich, continuous and coherent, specified and focused and inclusive and flexible. A six-year curriculum review cycle should also be adopted.
6. It also suggests the Department should:
- Design an Early Years Northern Ireland Framework for ages 0-6.
- Collect data from all types of qualifications so that career pathways for those aged 14-19 can be developed.
- Consider the need to reduce the amount of content in GCSEs.
- Consider the introduction of a Northern Ireland Diploma of Education.
- Include Digital Technology as new curriculum strand.
- Make Language and Literacy, and Mathematics and Numeracy mandatory until the end of Key Stage 4 (Year 12).
- Introduce languages other than English at Key Stage 2 (Years 5 to 7 at primary).
- Reconfigure the Learning for Life and Work area of learning to improve its relevance and coherence.
- Develop a new Citizenship, Employability and Personal Development certified programme.
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