The Royal Society of Biology has published an open letter from Professor Dudley Shallcross OBE FRSB to Professor Becky Francis CBE, Chair of Curriculum and Assessment Review, and the review panel.

Over the last ten years, the RSB has been preparing for curriculum reform in England, drawing on the expertise of our Members, Fellows and Member Organisations, our Curriculum Committee, Education and Science Policy Committee, Teaching Policy Advisory Group, Biology Education Research Group, and Education Policy advisory group, alongside advice and evidence gathered from research, policy reports, best evidence, and incorporating views of teachers, assessment experts, school and university students, and other science organisations.

The Royal Society of Biology will also be submitting a more detailed response to the current curriculum and assessment review call for evidence, and writes to the panel today to highlight its main priorities for the review in England:

1. Comprehensive review of 5-19 curriculum and assessment for biology and the sciences, informed by the RSB's recommendations and those of our partner science organisations should be a priority in the panel's interim report.
   All of the RSB's curriculum and qualifications recommendations, frameworks, and learning progression exemplifications can be found at rsb.org.uk/curriculum in our suite of documents: Evolving 5-19 Biology, and in our Primary Curriculum Advisory Group's Framework for a Future Primary Science Curriculum and subject organisations' response Developing a Primary Science Curriculum.

2. A better GCSE for Biology and the Sciences.
   The RSB, along with other subject organisations, calls for a single route through the sciences at GCSE that better will better support all learners to progress through Key Stages 3, 4, and 5. The three sciences should be timetabled separately at GCSE; taught by a dedicated subject specialist teacher; specified, examined, and graded separately, in a double award GCSE that is more manageable for teachers and students.

3. Less content, more time for depth and skills.
   The RSB's Evolving 5-19 Biology makes recommendations to reduce content with the aim of creating time for teachers and students to develop understanding and application, consolidate learning, experience valuable hands-on practical activities and field work, and local, personal, and historical contextualisation alongside global perspectives.

4. Inclusive, accessible, and engaging curricula that support students to develop understanding of global citizenship, age-appropriate scientific knowledge, and essential experiences that will prepare all young people to be scientifically literate, able to make scientifically informed choices as healthy citizens, and ready them for a diverse and evolving world of work in science-related and non-science careers.

The Royal Society of Biology looks forward to the outcomes of the panel’s interim report and would be keen to deliver further evidence, advice, and policy recommendations to the panel regarding 5-19 biology curriculum and assessment. The RSB has been part of similar processes in Wales and will shortly join the curriculum improvement cycle in Scotland as a stakeholder for the sciences. The Society is well prepared and ready to put our work into action in England.

The RSB will be hosting a theme with Chat Biology on X and Bluesky on Tuesday 26 November at 20:30: "Should Key Stage 3 pupils study Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, or "science"?". Join us and contribute your views with the hashtag #ChatBiology and tag @RoyalSocBio on X.

The RSB's full response to the panel is available here.

Find out more about the RSB's education policy priorities at www.rsb.org.uk/education