New Curriculum Updates and Resources to Boost Student Achievement: Insights from Education Minister Erica Stanford

The Government is delivering on its commitment to lift student achievement, with new curriculum updates, resources, and assessments rolling out from Term 4, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.

We’re introducing a clear curriculum, consistent ways of teaching, and more effective ways to monitor student progression and achievement. We want to ensure teachers have the right settings to support more young people to thrive, Ms Stanford says.

The updated learning areas for English and Mathematics Years 0 to 10 will be available from 20 October, ahead of being required for use in Term 1 of 2026. All other learning areas will be released from 28 October.

We’ve heard from the sector and we’ve listened – timelines have been updated to provide schools with more time to plan and progress their implementation. The implementation of all other learning areas (Social Sciences, Science, Health and Physical Education, the Arts, Technology, Learning Languages) will be rephased and introduced in two stages in 2027 and 2028.

We’re listening to principals’ and teachers’ needs and supporting teachers with the tools and training they need to deliver brilliant teaching of the basics.

From next year, high quality maths resources delivered for Years 0-8 will be extended to Year 9 and 10 in digital format. Teachers will be provided with professional learning and development and resources to support the implementation of the revised maths curriculum.

New requirements are also being introduced to assess against the new curricula for English. From the start of 2026, the use of the Phonics Check will be required.

Parents will know how well their children are doing and know that they’re getting extra support if they need it.

Requirements for twice-yearly assessment of Year 3-8 students in Reading, Writing, and Maths using specified tools will also be required.

The tools are: SMART (the new Student Monitoring, Assessment and Reporting Tool), which will be available for use from the start of 2026 PATs (Progressive Achievement Tests) e-asTTle, for 2026 only Student achievement is at the heart of the education reforms we are introducing, driven by six priority areas, that are grounded in evidence and ambitious for our young people. Our work programme will continue to drive that, Ms Stanford says.