National Reports and Policy Documents

Here are national reports and policy documents from the last four years.

If you are interested in accessing documents issued prior to 2019, these can be found here: Documents issued prior to 2019.

April 2023. The future of post-16 qualifications, House of Commons Education Committee. This interesting report particular covers (a) the introduction of T-levels, (b) the upcoming defunding of a range of other Applied General Qualifications (e.g. BTechs), and (c) apprenticeships. It is quite critical of the status quo, especially the fact that the government is committing strongly to T levels, and withdrawing existing alternatives, without enough evidence that T-levels will "work".

May 2022. Ofsted Research Reviews: Computing. It starts "This review explores the literature relating to the field of computing education. Its purpose is to identify factors that can contribute to high-quality school computing curriculums, assessment, pedagogy and systems. We will use this understanding of subject quality to examine how computing is taught in England’s schools. We will then publish a subject report to share what we have learned." So it gives a window into Ofsted's thinking about computing as a school subject.
Ofsted is publishing one Research Review about each subject. You can find the full set here, including one on science and on mathematics. They also have a page describing the principles behind their Research Review series.
March 2022. Opportunity for all: strong schools and great teachers for your child. This is the Department for Education's white paper about schools, which describes the policies they will carry forward (in England) over the next few years.

September 2021. Schools and universities, how do they work together to support the teaching and learning of computing? by the Council of Professors and Heads of Computing (CPHC) with the CAS Research & Universities Working Group (PDF). If you would like to order printed and bound copies of this report, please complete the order form.
March 2021. Disconnected? Exploring the digital skills gap by the Learning and Work Institute. "Ahead of the launch a new UK digital strategy, we need to see a step change in ambition – from the government, from employers and from providers – in order to meet future digital skills need." BBC coverage.
Feb 2021. Digital literacy within the computing curriculum by Raspberry Pi Foundation (Sue Sentance and James Robinson). "We seek to better define digital literacy, highlight its presence and importance in the computing curriculum, and outline a progression for digital literacy modelled by the Teach Computing Curriculum.
Feb 2021 Remote Education Research by OFSTED “Understanding what successful remote education is has been a priority for Ofsted during the pandemic. Education providers have of course been learning ‘on the job’, and many will now be well advanced in their own understanding. This paper sets out what we have learned through our research and visits and we hope providers find it helpful.”

August 2020. Scottish technology ecosystem: review by Mark Logan, commissioned by the Scottish Government. "We propose a transformation of Computing Science education at school level, with the principle that the subject must be treated, from 1st year at secondary school level with the same focus as Mathematics or Physics. We also recommend considerable expansion of extra-curricular support."

August 2019. Policy briefing on teachers of computing: recruitment, retention and development, Royal Society. This briefing updates aspects of the 2017 report to gain a better understanding of what has changed since then, and to note any significant developments in computing education. It draws on a range of sources to provide an overview of current computing provision in schools, focusing on computing teacher workforce supply and development, the uptake of computing in schools and areas for action. The data included in this briefing concern the secondary school system in England, unless stated otherwise. The term ‘computing’ incorporates both computer science and ICT related courses.
May 2019. The Roehampton annual computing education report, by Peter Kemp. A data-rich snapshot of the state of play in England, based on exams sat in summer 2018.
May 2019. Dynamics of data science skills, Royal Society. The work is an extensive exploration of the data science landscape. It illustrates an explosion in demand for data science talent and skills and it identifies key areas for action to ensure a sustainable and balanced ecosystem. Two accompanying packs present personal stories of careers in data science.