The long awaited education White Paper has now been published. The paper sets out and gives further information of the government's plans. The main points as described by the Telegraph provide a summary of the contents. The future of history still remains unclear despite the paper, but what we do know is that history will form part of the 5 core subjects to make up an English Baccalaureate.  For the full report, please click on the link below.   

Summary

• Foreign languages to be made compulsory up to the age of 16 
• A shake-up of league tables will see schools ranked higher for the number of pupils taking GCSEs in five core subjects - English, Maths, science, a language, and a humanities 
• Experts such as Simon Schama will be brought in to review the curriculum
• New test to determine whether schools are failing and should be taken over 
• One of the proposals is to raise the threshold at which schools are considered to be "failing" to fewer than 35% of pupils achieving five GCSEs graded A* to C. Currently, the level is 30% and, based on 2009 data, the change would affect 439 schools. 
• Targets are to be introduced for primary schools for the first time 
• A reading test for six-year-olds to check if they can recognise simple words like "cat" and "street" will be brought in 
• Trainee teachers will spend more time in the classroom 
• More assessment of teacher training applicants, including tests of character and emotional intelligence 
• Teachers are expected to receive guidance on how to search pupils for more items, including mobile phones and pornography, and when they can use force 
• Alongside an overhaul of teacher training, the White Paper, The Importance of Teaching, is likely to contain sweeping reforms to qualifications. This could mean abandoning modular - so-called "bite-size" GCSEs in favour of linear exams taken after two years of study. 
• Former troops will be offered sponsorship to retrain as teachers 
• Anonymity for teachers being investigated for inappropriate behaviour, to protect teachers from malicious allegations 
• Scrapping rules limiting head teachers' ability to observe teachers' lessons to three hours each year