Dr Elizabeth Hidson
Incoming TPEA Chair
TPEA welcomes the publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review and recommendations regarding Computing education:
- Greater clarity in the Computing curriculum about what students should be taught at each key stage so that they build essential digital literacy
- Replace GCSE Computer Science with a Computing GCSE which reflects the full breadth of the Computing curriculum and supports students to develop the digital skills they need.
- Reviews where digital skills and technologies have become an integral part of subject disciplines other than Computing. Where this is the case, it should determine whether to include this specific digital content in those subjects’ Programmes of Study, sequenced and aligned with the Computing curriculum.
The review makes clear that computing is fundamental to young people’s lives and futures. We share the concern that GCSE Computer Science has failed to engage many learners, particularly girls, and that a broader Computing GCSE is needed. A qualification which reflects the full breadth of the Computing curriculum and better prepares young people for both specialist careers and the application of digital technology across all fields, is essential and overdue.
We also welcome the review’s recognition that digital literacy is not automatically acquired and that it must be explicitly taught. Its emphasis on providing greater clarity and specificity in the Computing curriculum, particularly at Key Stage 4, will help support more consistent and effective teaching.
However, the review raises a critical question that extends beyond Computing alone. Young people face complex challenges in a technology-enabled world: managing misinformation, understanding artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, protecting their privacy and wellbeing online, and developing the digital competencies that are now essential across all careers and aspects of civic life. Addressing these challenges requires more than curriculum reforms in one single subject.
Currently, England lacks a coherent, age-appropriate digital skills framework. The consequence is fragmented provision, inconsistent expectations, and a persistent digital divide that deepens disadvantage for our most vulnerable learners. We believe the recommendations in this review, whilst significant, must be part of a broader solution.
Additionally, many teachers across subject disciplines lack confidence in using digital technologies effectively in their classroom practice. This reflects both a need for comprehensive teacher education, and for systemic support for digital pedagogy. We must address this if we are serious about embedding technology throughout the curriculum. The recent rate of growth of AI illustrates how fast things can change. Coupled with the speed of our pivot online during the Covid-19 pandemic, we must develop a confident and agile response to the inevitable changes wrought by technology.
TPEA has been working on a number of perspective papers since our conference earlier this year. Our paper Towards a Digital Skills Framework for England (about to be released on our website) proposes a child-centred framework approach to embedding essential digital competencies across all subjects and age phases, from early years through to adulthood. It positions digital skills not as a subset of Computing education, but as a foundation to contemporary learning, civic participation and lifelong opportunity. Importantly, it maintains the integrity of Computing as a subject whilst recognising that digital literacy, media literacy and digital citizenship must be developed holistically across the whole curriculum.
We are ready to work with government, schools, awarding bodies, and other associations and organisations to bring this framework into being. The review has created momentum for change. Now is the time to build on that momentum and ensure that every young person in England has access to the comprehensive digital education they deserve and need.
