A voice for biology education

With different education reforms underway in each of the four UK nations, the RSB has been working hard to ensure better biology and science education for all young people

Across the UK, governments are embarking on curriculum and qualification reform, many of which will directly impact how biology is learned and taught.

Education is devolved in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and as a result the education systems are quite different in each, even when school phases and qualifications in the sciences seem similar at first glance.

In Scotland science is compulsory only to age 14, rather than 16 in the other UK nations. In Wales and Northern Ireland students currently follow a path more similar to pre-2016 GCSEs sat in England. And in Wales new GCSEs in the sciences from 2026 will be different in format, content and assessment from GCSEs in Northern Ireland and England.

All this requires our education policy team, and members of our Curriculum and Education and Science Policy committees, to be familiar with the rapidly changing nuances of the nations’ education systems, and issues in each. They also need to create cohesive frameworks and policy recommendations that can work across all four nations.

Learning lessons from the last round of curriculum reforms more than 10 years ago, the RSB draws on research and expertise from its individual members and Member Organisations. In 2021 we published Evolving 5–19 Biology: Recommendations and Framework for 5–19 Biology Curricula, setting out a vision for teaching and learning biology.

The education systems in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are quite different due to devolution

To complement these recommendations we convened a Primary Curriculum Advisory Group and in 2024 published Developing a Primary Science Curriculum. The Society’s Curriculum committee and Member Organisations have also contributed to a suite of documents exploring areas that are often overlooked in the curriculum: The Role of Practical Activities in Biology, Sustainability Education, Transferable Skills in Biology Education, and Improving Teacher and Student Perceptions of Ecology.

Working with Wales

The Society has been engaged in curriculum reform with the Welsh Government, Qualifications Wales and awarding organisation WJEC since 2018. Wales decided to co-create a new curriculum led by teachers across six Areas of Learning and Experience, with the RSB acting as an adviser. Now in the implementation phase, the Curriculum for Wales has been rolled out for early years and Years 1–9, with full rollout to Year 11 by 2026–27.

Along with partners in other science organisations, the RSB strongly advocated for a single route through the sciences at GCSE in Wales with a view to addressing inequity in the system, and improving biology and science education for all students. We are now seeking to ensure students have an entitlement to The Sciences GCSE, which takes the best features of the previous ‘triple science’ route and utilises them in a new qualification.

In 2024 the RSB published a Welsh translation of Evolving 5–19 Biology – Esblygu 5–19 Bioleg: Argymhellion a Fframwaith y Cwricwlwm Bioleg 5-19 Oed – to better support teachers as they develop schemes of work for the new curriculum, and the RSB has also translated advice from its Primary Curriculum Advisory Group – Fframwaith ar gyfer Darpar Gwricwlwm Gwyddoniaeth Cynradd.

In 2024 the Society introduced a Primary Curriculum Advisory Group and published Developing a Primary Science Curriculum

The Scottish curriculum

Following disruptions to education during the pandemic, the Scottish Government embarked on a series of reviews to inform changes to its education system. For curriculum reform, the end result is a process that appears similar to what is underway in Wales, but drawing on the existing Scottish Curriculum for Excellence.

The RSB has joined the core group of advisers for the science curriculum improvement cycle, and is pleased to see that Evolving 5–19 Biology and Developing a Primary Science Curriculum have been well received by Education Scotland and the teachers involved.

Other developments in Scotland, including the establishment of a new body for qualifications (Qualifications Scotland), will have an impact on the outputs of the improvement cycle and we await further detail.

Preparing for reform in England

Curriculum reform was expected in England whichever party won the 2024 general election, and the Labour government quickly appointed Professor Becky Francis to chair a curriculum and assessment review.

The Society has raised concerns with the panel that while science sits alongside maths and English as a core subject up to 16, it was not mentioned explicitly in the terms of the review nor in the recent call for evidence that will inform the direction of travel for the review and recommendations for reform. This stock-taking exercise has given the RSB and our partners in the Science Education Policy Alliance the opportunity to make the case for the review to prioritise science in the plans for reform and set out a clear vision for what that might look like.

First steps in Northern Ireland

A review of the Northern Ireland Curriculum was announced towards the end of 2024, led by Lucy Crehan, an educational consultant and former teacher. The Society provided a submission to the initial evidence gathering, which called for broad views on strengths and weaknesses of the existing curriculum. As with the other UK nations, we will frame our advice around Evolving 5–19 Biology and Developing a Primary Science Curriculum, and will be seeking meetings with Northern Ireland’s review team and the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.

The RSB is providing expertise, evidence and research at all stages of the reform process in each nation

The future of bioscience

Reform is at different stages and happening at pace in all corners of the UK. We are providing expertise, evidence and research at all stages of the process in each nation. We rely on engagement from members to help develop and refine policy positions, and value input from individual members as well as Member Organisations. We will continue to work with partners in physics and chemistry to put forward a strong collective voice for the sciences, while championing the individuality of our disciplines.

There are lots of opportunities to contribute to education policy at the RSB, and teachers may be interested in joining our new Teaching Policy Network. All our curriculum and qualifications policy documents are available online, and if you are interested in joining one of our committees, and contributing to consultation responses and calls for evidence, please email education.policy@rsb.org.uk

Lauren MᶜLeod MRSB is head of education policy at the RSB