Speakers for Schools Respond to the Independent Review of NI Curriculum Call for Evidence
In October 2024, Paul Givan, NI Minister of Education, announced he was commissioning a review of the Northern Ireland Curriculum. The review is being led by Lucy Crehan, an international expert in education policy. The review will make a series of policy recommendations regarding the purpose, design, specification, and implementation of the Northern Ireland Curriculum. It is also expected to provide a strategic assessment of the current curriculum within the international context. In December 2024, the review team issued a call for written evidence from stakeholders.
Our response outlined our views—supported by evidence—on the changes needed to the NI Curriculum. We drew on feedback from educators from schools and colleges who work with Speakers for Schools as well as youth-led organisations in NI. We shared Speakers for Schools impact and evaluation research, which clearly demonstrates the positive benefits of high-quality work experience for all young people and featured a case study from our NI Youth Council representative. We also highlighted the UK-wide work by Speakers for Schools to support the industry to tackle the under-representation of groups in certain sectors. Challenging stereotypes and self-limiting beliefs among young people is key to addressing skills shortages in NI and raising aspirations.
We believe that a key strength of the NI Curriculum is the existing inclusion of employability and careers education as a statutory requirement at key stages three and four, which span ages 11-16. However, although work experience is recognised as useful for students, it is not a statutory requirement or benchmarked in terms of duration or quality.
Bridging the gap between the world of work and formal education requires dedicated time and commitment to the curriculum. International models of best practice embed integrated career guidance within the curriculum and include practical work experience.
We believe that employability and careers should be retained and improved as a statutory entitlement for students in NI and begin from an early age. Crucially employability and careers must be further supported by a minimum work experience offer for all young people.
Our recommendations focussed on three key areas which we believe should be improved as part of any curriculum refresh in Northern Ireland:
- Retain and develop Employability as a statutory Area of Learning within the NI Curriculum with refreshed, up-to-date guidance and support for educators.
- Agree and implement a minimum work experience offer for all young people in NI as part of employability and career education.
- Develop work experience best-practice guidance, linked to curriculum learning objectives and skills practice, to support high-quality and consistent individual school policies. This would encompass flexible delivery models and support high quality and a broad range of provisions on offer to all young people.
Read Speakers for Schools full response here.