Updated on
October 8, 2026
Progress 8 Changes 2025/26: Reporting and Future Proposals
Separate confirmed Progress 8 reporting changes from panel recommendations and consultation proposals, with two school examples and a printable review note.
What Progress 8 changes apply in 2025/26?
For England’s 2025/26 secondary school reporting, the Department for Education says Progress 8 will be absent because required key stage 2 prior-attainment data is unavailable. No replacement measure is included. English Baccalaureate headline and additional measures are also removed. These changes do not set a future subject model or its cohort.
Start your next staff briefing with the year, the source and the status of each claim. The 2025/26 rules answer one question. The review panel’s advice and the government’s call for views answer others. Keep those labels clear when explaining Progress 8 to staff and families.
Key takeaways for an England secondary leader
- The official 2025/26 guidance says Progress 8 will not be included, with no replacement measure.
- English Baccalaureate (EBacc) headline and additional measures are removed from 2025/26 reporting.
- A proposed future curriculum model needs its own confirmed rules and applicable cohort before you describe it as settled.
In this article
- Confirmed 2025/26 reporting changes
- Why this cohort has no Progress 8 measure
- Measures and subject groupings
- The review panel's recommendations
- The closed consultation's status
- Fictional staff-briefing example
- Fictional options-leaflet example
- Build a source-review note
- Check the three policy documents
- Scope and limitations
- Frequently asked questions
What applies to Progress 8 reporting in 2025/26?
The Department for Education (DfE)’s key stage 4 performance-data guidance, updated 14 September 2026, is the operational starting point. It covers learners completing key stage 4 in 2025/26. Some qualifications achieved in earlier years may also be included. Use the guidance’s cohort label when discussing these arrangements.
This non-statutory checking guidance sets out the rules for reporting data. Check which year the data covers. A page read in 2026 can concern results from an earlier year.
| Measure | 2025/26 reporting | Keep this distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Progress 8 | Not included. No replacement measure. | An unavailable measure is not a numerical score of zero. |
| EBacc headline and additional measures | Removed from 2025/26. | Removing these measures alone does not establish a future Progress 8 subject model. |
Source: DfE, KS4 June performance-data guidance, updated 14 September 2026. The zero distinction is a measurement-status explanation, not a claim about a displayed table cell.
Why is Progress 8 missing for this cohort?
DfE gives a data reason: the key stage 2 (KS2) prior-attainment information needed for the calculation is unavailable from COVID-affected years. The guidance specifies a 2025/26 omission. Keep its explanation attached to that reporting year.
Keep any past result attached to the group and year it covers. Leave a current-year gap identified as an unavailable measure, rather than filling it with zero. A short note can explain which measure is missing and cite the dated source.
A school measure and a classroom check serve different purposes. Our guide to formative and summative assessment helps explain those uses. Use evidence about the learning task to judge one learner’s understanding.
Is removing EBacc measures the same as changing a bucket?
Separate the published EBacc measures from the subject grouping within Progress 8. DfE confirms removal of EBacc headline and additional measures for 2025/26. A future Progress 8 subject model needs its own confirmed rule.
A slide may turn several claims into “EBacc has gone”. Ask what has gone, from which year, and in which source. Use the fuller wording in a staff briefing. A short slogan can hide the gap between a change to reported measures and a plan for subject groupings.
Keep curriculum planning connected to its educational purposes. Curriculum design and curriculum mapping provide planning lenses for content and sequence. Check accountability rules separately, using current official guidance for the relevant year.
What did the Curriculum and Assessment Review recommend?
The review panel’s November 2025 final report advised keeping the structure and subject mix of Progress 8. It proposed renaming the existing EBacc bucket “Academic Breadth”. Read printed pages 125 and 127 as the panel’s recommendations, with that source label retained.
The panel also advised removing the separate EBacc performance and headline measures. Read each point on its own terms. One names a subject grouping; the other concerns standalone reported measures.
Read the document before assigning policy status
Operational guidanceWhat DfE says applies to reporting for 2025/26.
Review panel reportWhat the panel recommended in November 2025.
Government consultationWhat the government sought views on in 2026.
Future working ruleConfirm the final rule and applicable cohort in an authoritative source.
Different documents have different roles. This is a source-reading map, not a sequence showing that every proposal becomes policy.
What does the closed government consultation establish?
The official consultation landing page is labelled “Closed consultation”. Published on 23 February 2026, it sought views on improving Progress 8 and Attainment 8 through a refreshed curriculum model. The consultation ran from 23 February to 4 May 2026.
The current page says feedback is being analysed. Its historical banner says it was published under the 2024 to 2026 Starmer Labour government. These page notices were checked on 8 October 2026. Record them as page status and publication history.
A closed consultation has finished seeking views. Find the current official response or guidance before describing its proposals as agreed rules. The bounded source check and its unresolved questions are set out under limitations below.
Before changing an options statement, find the current official response or guidance that answers the exact question. Note the section and group it covers. Keep consultation dates, report dates and the commencement of any confirmed rule distinct.
Authored school example: the autumn staff briefing
Fictional England secondary-school planning case. An assistant head is preparing a 2025/26 results briefing. An inherited slide contains a historic Progress 8 result and an empty current-year box. The colleague reviewing it asks whether the blank means zero. The school and conversation here are invented.
| Draft wording | Authored revision | Reason for the decision |
|---|---|---|
| “Current Progress 8: 0” | “Progress 8 is not included for 2025/26. DfE confirms there is no replacement measure.” | Do not convert non-production into a numerical result. |
| A historic result beside the current heading | Give the historic result its own original cohort label. | Keep the result attached to the year it describes. |
| “Schools made no progress this year” | Explain the unavailable KS2 data needed for this measure. | The reporting omission is not evidence of no learning. |
An authored planning example. No real school result, learner record or measured effect is represented.
The assistant head keeps a source note with the slide so a colleague can check the reporting statement. The note addresses this one statement, leaving the school’s other results for their own checks.
For classroom decisions, keep using appropriate evidence about the work being taught. Assessment for learning concerns a different question from whether a national accountability measure is available.
Authored school example: wording in an options leaflet
Fictional England secondary-school planning case. An options lead reviews a draft leaflet. It says a proposed “Academic Breadth” arrangement is already the confirmed rule for the school’s next options group. The draft cites the review panel, but supplies no final government rule for that group.
| Question for the draft | What the lead finds | Authored next action |
|---|---|---|
| Which document supports the claim? | A review recommendation is cited. | Label it as the panel’s recommendation. |
| Does that document settle the future model? | The consultation sought views on a refreshed model. | Keep the proposed model separate from settled reporting changes. |
| Which learners and qualifications does the rule cover? | No applicable final rule has been verified for the leaflet. | Leave that claim open and check current official guidance before publication. |
An invented document-review case, not a recommendation to take or drop a subject, or a prediction of future counting rules.
The lead can still explain the courses the school offers. They can also name the source question needing an answer. The edit replaces the unsupported future-rule promise with a specific check for the next draft.
For planning the content that a course teaches, see knowledge-rich curriculum planning. Use instructional design for the sequence of learning tasks. These are planning resources, rather than authorities for future accountability rules.
Build an editable status-review note
Dated reporting review (one-page PDF)
Use this authored staff-briefing example to separate a current reporting rule from an open proposal and name the next source check.
Use this note to keep one claim, its source and its next check together. Load either fictional case or edit the fields for a draft you are checking. Use no personal learner data. The result copies your entries into a printable record for a colleague to review.
One claim, one source, one next check
A local editing aid. The note records your source judgement, not a verified policy decision or a learner score. Entries are not submitted.
What if planning decisions cannot wait?
“We need staffing and options decisions before every detail settles” is a fair concern. This is an authored objection, not a quoted teacher. Separate choices about the school’s known offer from claims that depend on a future government rule.
Name the open question and the source that would answer it. Ask a colleague to check that source before sharing the draft. Keep the gap specific. Every planning task need not wait for an answer to a different question.
A bounded document-check path
IdentifyWrite the exact claim and the group it concerns.
LocateFind the official source and relevant passage.
ClassifySeparate a current instruction from a recommendation or proposal.
ReviseKeep supported wording and leave unverified future rules open.
An authored document-review routine. It is not an official compliance checklist or proof that a school’s options plan is correct.
For wider discussion of subject explanations, the oracy and critical-thinking hub offers a separate planning resource. If the conversation concerns inspection rather than performance reporting, use our guide to Ofsted deep dives and their replacement. Keep the source question specific.
Public comments, November 2025
These dated public comments come from the November 2025 debate. TES reports announced plans; the NEU expresses an organisational view. Neither is research evidence or a current rule. Formal status comes from the current official sources discussed above.
@tesDated reported news
As part of its response to the curriculum and assessment review, the government has announced plans to overhaul Progress 8.
5 November 2025 (UTC)Post by @tes, 5 November 2025 (UTC)
@NEUnionOrganisation opinion
We need to see action on accountability tools such as Progress 8 from the Government to make parity between subjects a reality.
5 November 2025 (UTC)Post by @NEUnion, 5 November 2025 (UTC)
Evidence check: which policy source answers the question?
| Source | Question it answers here | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| DfE checking guidance, updated September 2026 | What reporting arrangements apply to 2025/26? | A permanent abolition or a settled future subject model. |
| CAR panel final report, November 2025 | What did the review panel recommend? | Government adoption, a future formula or an applicable first cohort. |
| Official consultation, published February 2026 | What was consulted on and what is the landing page’s status? | A verified final response or adoption merely because the consultation closed. |
Policy and operational documents, not three causal studies of curriculum or learner outcomes.
Scope and limitations
Read this article as an England reporting and source-status guide, checked on 8 October 2026. The checking guidance covers 2025/26. The panel report and closed consultation have different purposes. Keep each date and source attached to its statement.
The passages used here concern reporting and policy status, rather than teaching trials. This guide makes no causal claim about learning or subject choices.
The bounded check did not confirm a final future Progress 8 model, its qualification rules or first applicable cohort. A later official response could answer those questions. Recheck the exact point in current authoritative guidance before relying on a future arrangement.
The two school cases and review note are authored illustrations. They do not certify a school's reporting, curriculum duties or individual qualification choices. The note copies your entries. A colleague still needs to verify the source, relevant year and policy status.
Frequently asked questions
Does missing Progress 8 mean a score of zero?
No. DfE says Progress 8 is not included for 2025/26 and there is no replacement measure. Non-production is different from a numerical result.
Has Progress 8 been permanently abolished?
The inspected 2025/26 guidance establishes the omission for that reporting year. It does not establish permanent abolition.
Does Academic Breadth settle the future subject rules?
The panel recommended renaming the existing EBacc bucket. A future model and its applicable rules require a confirmed authoritative source.
Does a closed consultation mean the proposal is adopted?
No. Closed describes the consultation status. It does not alone confirm adoption, a future formula or the first applicable cohort.
Can this review note check our options plan?
It records your entries and prints one claim-review note. It does not calculate scores, verify policy or certify a school plan.
Keep the next briefing source-led
Choose one sentence in the next briefing or leaflet. Add its cohort, source and status. Replace an unsupported future-rule promise with the exact question to check. Use the review note to preserve that next action.
Plan the learning behind the results
Keep the source-review note for your staff briefing. For the teaching discussion that follows, use Structural Learning to plan learning objectives and classroom activities.
References
- Department for Education. Check your KS4 June performance measures data. Published May 2026, updated 14 September 2026. See “About this guidance” and “What the KS4 performance measures cover in the 2025 to 2026 academic year”.
- Curriculum and Assessment Review panel (2025). Curriculum and Assessment Review final report: Building a world-class curriculum for all. November 2025, printed pages 125 and 127.
- Department for Education (2026). Key stage 4 performance measures and targeted RISE extension. Published 23 February 2026, closed consultation. Original consultation dates: 23 February to 4 May 2026.
