Curriculum and Assessment Review: a 'once-in-a generation chance to better prepare children for adulthood'
Responding to the publication of the government’s Curriculum and Assessment Review, Pip Sanderson, Head of the Centre for Digital Information Literacy, said:
“The Curriculum and Assessment Review is a once-in-a-generation chance to reform the way we prepare children for adulthood, and I am heartened that Professor Becky Francis and her team have recognised the school curriculum must evolve in response to rapid social and technological change.
“The National Institute of Teaching and the Pears Foundation have set up the Centre for Digital Literacy in Schools in response to this challenge. The rise of AI, the flood of digital information, and the saturation of social media calls for a curriculum that enables every young person to flourish in an era when information is instant and influence is shaped by algorithms.
“Our work will embed digital media literacy into the teacher education and development programmes that tens of thousands of teachers and leaders complete each year. Our approach respects the reality of school life: rather than asking overstretched staff to find extra time, we will integrate training into existing structures.”
Melanie Renowden, Chief Executive of the National Institute of Teaching, added:
“Equipping teachers with the skills and abilities to navigate misinformation and disinformation in classroom settings holds the key to strengthening pupils’ digital media literacy and critical thinking, and in turn will support learning outcomes for all children.
“More broadly, we urge the government to pay careful attention to the implementation of the review. Its ultimate success rests primarily in the hands of the school workforce, and its delivery will not exist in a vacuum. Teachers’ time is a precious commodity, and every minute spent on reforms to the curriculum is time that is being diverted. Among the most high-leverage but persistently squeezed facets of a teacher’s role is their engagement in professional learning, and since access to high-quality teaching is one of the biggest drivers in closing attainment gaps – particularly for disadvantaged children – teachers’ time for self-improvement must be prized and prioritised.”
Centre for Digital Information Literacy in Schools
The National Institute of Teaching’s Centre for Digital Information Literacy in Schools (CDILS) was launched in July 2025 to help teachers and school leaders tackle the growing challenge of online misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy belief in schools. CDILS was established with generous financial support from the Pears Foundation – alongside the Commission for Countering Online Conspiracies in Schools
If you work in a school and are interested in joining a pilot programme to test and shape the work of the Centre, register your school's interest today.
Who is NIoT?
The NIoT is a higher education institute established by schools to conduct research and deliver teacher education in all regions of England. Our mission is to improve the quality of teacher and leader development across the education sector by generating and interpreting research, applying insights to our high-quality development programmes and sharing the results with the sector.
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