Lucy Powell ridiculed as she reveals GCSE overhaul - 'children will be the losers'

Lucy Powell ridiculed as she reveals GCSE overhaul - 'children will be the losers' Lucy Powell's 'Department of Hope' proposals have faced major backlash from various angles. Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Bookmark Add us as preferred source Comments By Holly Kintuka , Audience Writer 10:52, Fri, Oct 16, 2026 Updated: 10:53, Fri, Oct 16, 2026 Lucy Powell has faced backlash for her curriculum change proposals (Image: Getty) The Education Secretary has faced major backlash over her plans to reform the curriculum . Lucy Powell announced that "peaking skills" will become just as important as reading and writing in GSCE assessments , and that she's shifting behavioural regulations to in hopes that fewers students will face fewer exclusions. Ms Powell said she is leading a "Department of Hope" but was told "hope won't get pupils through exams" and "children will be the losers". Tory education spokesman Laura Trott said: 'Blowing open the curriculum and assessment review once again creates more confusion for schools and risks reopening the hard-won debate over the importance of a knowledge-rich curriculum.' Labour's plans strikes a constrast to those of the Tory government, aiming to toughen out school standards. Ms Trott slammed the reform as "Orwellian", adding: "The Ministry of Peace made war, the Ministry of Love tortured people, and now Lucy Powell has the Department of Hope while school standards are being destroyed". Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT Alan Smithers, professor of education at Buckingham University, said the proposals looked "woolly", and further critised that "Hope won't get pupils through exams". In her speech to the Confederation of School Trusts, Ms Powell said 'speaking, listening and communicating' would become a 'core part' of content and assessment, 'from primary to GCSE and beyond'. This is despite speaking and listening exams already having been dropped as counting towards English GCSE final marks in 2013, due to teachers inflating grades. Former Ofsted head, Baronness Spielman, now a Tory life peer and shadow minister for work and pensions, claims the changes will "reopen the routes by which schools used to push up pupil grades in GCSEs to make it look as though they were doing better than they really were". Get the latest politics news - straight from our team in Westminster and more I would like to receive emails from the Daily Express featuring our latest products, services, offers, and promotions from across the Reach Plc family . Subscribe Invalid email You agree you are 18 or over. We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. You can unsubscribe at any time. More Info . She added: "It is children who will be the losers." However, Ms Powell said "oracy" was becoming more important in the age of artifical intelligence, and state school pupils were often denied these skills. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT Fiona Bruce forced to intervene as Labour MP fumes at 'corrupt old boys' jibe at EU Andy Burnham's contradictions suggest good bloke schtick is skin-deep - no convictions Ms Powell wants to make oracy as important as reading and writing (Image: Getty) "That ability to articulate yourself confidently is central to success in work and in life, but for too long it's been a marker of privilege,' she said. 'Now it will become the right of every child – nobody left out because they can't speak up. That's why we're hardwiring oracy into the revised national curriculum. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT "And I can announce today that I will give oracy equal status to reading and writing, as a new strand of the English curriculum.' She said Labour would work with schools and exams regulator Ofqual to ensure 'oracy will light up every classroom". The Education Secertary also suggested reducing exclusions by implementing a "system that rewards inclusion, not exlucison". She explained that while "poor behaviour must have strong consquences", it is "much harder" to someone back in the system once they fall out. She also wants to reduce the amount of academic writing in subjects such as music, PE and drama, instead adopting more 'practical' modes of assessment. Summarising her approach, she said: "We need to widen the narrow view of what good is. And we need to give our young people something to believe in again. Hope for the future. That is my mission, I've dubbed it as me leading the Department of Hope." Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said: "Oracy is vital but should be a side product of all good teaching. "Separating it out will be a green light for lazy teaching." Lucy Powell GCSEs Education Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Bookmark Add us as preferred source Comments