Morning, Monday, 1st December 2025
Online
This conference will examine the way forward for literacy and numeracy in England’s schools and early years settings. It comes with a renewed policy focus on foundational skills, including the Government’s aim of functional literacy and numeracy for all by the age of 18, and the recent launch of the Government’s National Year of Reading for 2026, which aims to tackle a fall in reading rates.
Policy priorities and curriculum reform
Taking place following the expected publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report later this year, it will be an opportunity for stakeholders and policymakers to look ahead to the implementation of its findings, including potential reform to Key Stage 2 writing assessment and coordination of changes with broader curriculum aims.
Discussion will draw on recommendations in the Curriculum and Assessment Review interim review earlier this year, which emphasised the need for numeracy and literacy to be effectively integrated across the curriculum. It also highlighted concerns about current assessment practices in schools, including the impact of grammar, punctuation, and spelling tests at Key Stage 2, and a potential narrowing of the curriculum linked to performance measures such as the English Baccalaureate.
Sessions in the agenda will assess priorities for improving progression and outcomes in reading, writing, and mathematics, considering how curriculum and assessment can more accurately reflect pupils’ real-world understanding, creativity, and problem-solving ability.
Delegates will also consider the way forward for system governance and accountability structures, including collaboration across local authorities, trusts and settings to support stakeholders in the implementation of these reforms, particularly in early years, as the sector adapts to new national responsibilities. Discussion will look at how roles are defined across nurseries, schools and academy trusts, and coordination that may be needed across maintained and private providers to support consistent quality and prevent gaps in provision as reform is rolled out.
Early years
Delegates will discuss next steps for strengthening early language and numeracy skills, including for disadvantaged children, following the extension of funding for Stronger Practice Hubs and expansion of the Maths Champions programme. We also expect discussion on the Government’s recently published Best Start in Life Strategy, which aims to improve child development through funding for early interventions in English and maths, as well as a commitment to roll out Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority to provide early language support.
Attendees will consider support needed by early years practitioners to enable them to deliver high-quality provision, ensuring that curriculum design supports strong foundations, as well as best practice in easing the transition into primary school settings. Further areas for discussion include supporting maintained nursery schools in leading local improvement, and how to achieve sustainable funding and consistent pedagogy across different providers.
Curriculum, assessment and workforce priorities
Delegates will assess the effectiveness of English and maths hubs, including the impact of the Government’s recent £2m commitment to training in phonics and early reading, and consider options for further strengthening early literacy following the publication of a new phonics-inspired Writing Framework which aims to support children’s confidence in writing and speaking skills. Discussion will also consider strategies to prevent geographical disparities in hub coverage and priorities for ensuring quality in training delivery.
Areas for discussion include how to better reflect pupils’ understanding and skills across different forms of writing, supporting both technical accuracy and expressive capability, and addressing concerns that current assessments may encourage formulaic responses. Sessions will also explore how to ensure that assessment systems and teaching methods provide meaningful feedback for progression and further understanding, and are not solely focused on assessment outcomes.
Further sessions will consider workforce priorities, including how best to support practitioner confidence and subject knowledge in delivering literacy and numeracy, strategic approaches to recruitment and retention, and the role of English and maths hubs and continuing professional development networks in building capacity. Sessions will address how to manage curriculum content and design, responding to concerns about overload while enabling all learners, including those with special educational needs and disabilities, to make meaningful progress. Delegates will consider how to support curriculum breadth at Key Stages 1 and 2, while continuing to secure high standards in literacy and numeracy.
Pupil engagement, inclusion and foundational skills
Delegates will review best practice in supporting struggling readers in secondary schools - including continuity of support beyond primary education and effective training for teachers - and the way forward for improving pupil engagement and reading enjoyment. They will also assess options for ensuring all learners develop the functional literacy and numeracy needed for future study or employment, addressing issues of equity, inclusion, and sustained intervention for those at risk of falling behind beyond early years. We expect further discussion to consider the effectiveness of English and maths resit policy post-16, particularly as a quarter of English and maths GCSE exams were taken by those older than 17 in 2025, and options for a more tailored approach to supporting continued progress in foundational skills beyond GCSE with calls for reform from some including the proposed introduction of a modular approach with students focusing on gaps in their knowledge rather than the entire course.
With concerns over declining enjoyment of reading among children highlighted in recent findings from the National Literacy Trust, we expect the morning to bring out latest thinking on strategies for building positive reading cultures both inside and outside school ahead of the Government’s forthcoming National Year of Reading campaign from January 2026, including through community partnerships and improved parental engagement, and best practice approaches for supporting reading outside school environments.
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates.
