The Government released the Curriculum and Assessment Review final report today.
End Sexism in Schools CEO Debbie Brazil said:
“We are deeply concerned that the long-anticipated Curriculum and Assessment Review final report fails to address the invisibility of women and girls in what is taught in schools.
“End Sexism in Schools submitted evidence to the Curriculum and Assessment Review demonstrating that male perspectives dominate every subject, sending the message to pupils that men’s contributions matter more than women’s.
“Sex and Relationship Education lessons barely scratch the surface of the sexism embedded in our schools system.
“The current imbalance in what is taught fuels harmful gender stereotypes and the wider culture of sexual harassment and violence against women and girls.
Opportunity for meaningful change
“We wait to hear how the Government will implement the Report’s recommendation that the National Curriculum: ‘should reflect our diverse society and the contributions of people of all backgrounds to our knowledge and culture.’
“The door is still open for a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring gender balance to the curriculum.”
Why the Curriculum and Assessment Review final report should focus on gender balance
- End Sexism in Schools is a charity working for a UK education system that is free of sexism and that allows all children to fulfil their potential.
- Women and girls should have equivalent representation within the curriculum as men and boys, and to have an equal share of school resources.
- Our recent research into the KS3 History curriculum found that only 12% of lessons feature women as the main focus and 59% of history lessons feature no women at all. Only 5% of schools reported teaching a named woman in all of the specified periods within the History curriculum.
- Our research into English Literature in schools found that only 5% of students studied a female authored text at GCSE in 2024. Schools choose the same few male authored texts year after year. An Inspector Calls has been on the curriculum for up to 39 years. None of the four exam boards will be the only one to remove it for commercial reasons – nothing will change unless the Department for Education mandates it.
- This is not just a problem with History and English Literature. Our research indicates that sexism will be embedded into most other parts of the academic curriculum. Female achievements, experiences, perspectives and voices are largely invisible in what children are taught in our classrooms.
- This is an education system problem and it is not inevitable – End Sexism in Schools has recommended changes to address this.
- Government data published in July 2025 showed that misogynistic attitudes have reached epidemic scale by the end of secondary school. The data shows that over half of pupils aged 11-19 (54%) say they had witnessed comments they would describe as misogynistic.
(Source: gov.uk/government/news/misogynistic-myths-kicked-out-of-classrooms-to-protect-children)
