A process is now in place for reviewing and evolving Scotland’s Curriculum. This will be known as the Curriculum Improvement Cycle (CIC).
This Glow Blog is designed to act as temporary home1 or hub for information and announcements about the CIC. It will include, for example, items on:
- Why we are evolving Scotland’s Curriculum;
- What is being reviewed;
- Who has been involved in the review cycle so far, and,
- How to get involved.
Where are we now?
Work has now begun on the Curriculum Improvement Cycle. We are still at an early stage of the planning process and recognise that reviewing curriculum takes time. We are committed to keeping you updated on the process and the progress being made as well as giving a clear idea of what you can expect and when and how you might prepare for any changes that could happen in the future.
If you are interested to learn more about the Curriculum Improvement Cycle (CIC) and how we got to where we are, then a good place to start exploring would be the About the CIC tab in the navigation at the top of this page. If you want to dive a bit deeper, you will find lots of information and links to a variety of publications in the Useful Reading section. You can also find this in the navigation. From October we will be publishing a termly eBulletin giving updates on progress with the CIC. You can sign up here.
Next Steps
Between November 2024 and March 2025 we are publishing a series of three CIC discussion papers. The papers talk through the background work around the curriculum improvement cycle and shares the evidence that we need, to show we are moving forward in the right direction. We have now completed a number of pilot curriculum reviews and this series of papers share what we found out, as well as outlining options for evolving the technical framework for Scotland’s Curriculum and how we plan on achieving change in the future.
Paper one is called Background and A Case For Change : Findings from the Pilot Curriculum Reviews 2023/24 . We published this in November. This paper explains why we are doing this work and talks about the pilot curriculum reviews. These pilot reviews were really informative and this paper shares everything that we learned. It also talks about evolving the technical framework and aims to inspire thinking.
Paper two was published in December 2024 and is called Towards an Evolved Technical Framework. This paper draws on the finding from the pilot curriculum reviews and other evidence to explain what the options might be to evolve the Technical Framework of Scotland’s Curriculum.
Paper three is due to publish in March 2025. It is called Working Together to Make Change Happen and will suggest how we might go about evolving the technical framework of Scotland’s Curriculum.
Language Matters! As work progresses with the Curriculum Improvement Cycle, it’s important that we all have a clear understanding of what we mean when we use certain terms.
We have published a paper called Language Matters. It’s a glossary which sets out a short list of terms to help strengthen a shared understanding when we talk about the Curriculum Improvement Cycle. The list of terms has a direct relevance for where the CIC work is now and you will start to see these definitions being used in our work. We will add to the glossary as work progresses, and draw on existing sources and definitions where these are available.
Sign up to the Curriculum Improvement Cycle termly News Bulletin for all the latest news and information. Sign up here.
Featured Article
- Curriculum Improvement Cycle – Information Webinar Series
Education Scotland are holding a series of information sessions for any interested… Read more: Curriculum Improvement Cycle – Information Webinar Series - Language Matters – a glossary of terms
Language Matters! The OECD (2021) recommended that Scotland should be clear about… Read more: Language Matters – a glossary of terms
Recent Updates
- Curriculum Improvement Cycle – Information Webinar SeriesEducation Scotland are holding a series of information sessions for any interested educator to hear about the ongoing work as part of the Curriculum Improvement Cycle. There will be opportunities to add feedback. Upcoming Sessions SESSION 1: An introduction to the Curriculum Improvement Cycle 27th January, 4pm Led by Education Scotland, the Curriculum Improvement Cycle introduces… Read more: Curriculum Improvement Cycle – Information Webinar Series
- Language Matters – a glossary of termsLanguage Matters! The OECD (2021) recommended that Scotland should be clear about the key terminology around curriculum and education reform. The Curriculum and Assessment Board has asked that “a piece of focused work is carried out at pace to explore and clearly define the language associated with curriculum reform.” As work progresses with the… Read more: Language Matters – a glossary of terms
- Curriculum Improvement Cycle – Towards an Evolved Technical Framework
Today (Thursday 19 December) Education Scotland has published the second of three discussion papers which have emerged from the findings, key messages and learning from a series of pilot curriculum reviews over session 2023/24. ‘Towards an Evolved Technical Framework’ aims to build on the findings identified in the first discussion paper by focusing on how we… Read more: Curriculum Improvement Cycle – Towards an Evolved Technical Framework
1 This Glow Blog is a temporary home for information and news about the Curriculum Improvement Cycle (CIC). We imagine that content currently hosted here will be transferred to form part of the Education Scotland web estate from Autumn 2025.
