About the NSW Curriculum Reform
NSW is delivering a new curriculum for Kindergarten to Year 12. It is the first comprehensive reform of the NSW school curriculum in 3 decades. Learn about why and how NESA is reforming the curriculum.
Reform priorities and recommendations
The reform recommendations are shaping our new syllabuses. Priorities identified for the early, middle, and later years of schooling are to:
- Build strong foundations for future learning – new English and Mathematics syllabuses for Kindergarten to Year 2.
- Provide more time for teaching – reducing the hours teachers spend on extra-curricular topics and issues, and compliance requirements.
- Strengthen post-school pathways – new learning areas for Years 11 and 12 that clearly link learning to future employment and study options.
- Develop a new curriculum – new syllabuses focused on what is essential to know and do in the early and middle years of schooling, and key learning areas in the senior years.
Reform background
The reform follows a comprehensive review of the NSW Curriculum that took place from 2018 to 2020.
Professor Geoff Masters who led the review is the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of the Australian Council for Educational Research. Prof. Masters has held both positions since 1998.
The review aimed to:
- make the NSW curriculum clearer to understand and teach
- examine ways to de-clutter the curriculum so that it allows teachers to focus on the main knowledge and skills that all students should have
- understand the implications for planning, teaching, assessing, and reporting
- draw on the expertise of teachers to ensure the review’s outcomes continue to support their important work
- provide students with strong foundations of knowledge, capabilities and values to be lifelong learners.
In 2018, the NSW government released the terms of reference for the review and then completed public consultation.
Further public consultation, on an Interim Report, took place in late 2019.
Mid-2020 marked the release of the NSW Curriculum Review final report and the NSW Government's response to the NSW Curriculum Review.
With the release of these reports, NESA began to work on delivering the Curriculum Reform.
Please email nswcurriculumreform@nesa.nsw.edu.au for more information on the public consultations including key findings and submissions.