Business
Mortgages and AI to be added to the curriculum in English schools
Getty ImagesChildren will be taught how to budget and how mortgages work as the government seeks to modernise the national curriculum in England’s schools.
They will also be taught how to spot fake news and disinformation, including AI-generated content, following the first review of what is taught in schools in over a decade.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the government wanted to “revitalise” the curriculum but keep a “firm foundation” in basics like English, maths and reading.
Head teachers said the review’s recommendations were “sensible” but would require “sufficient funding and teachers”.
The government commissioned a review of the national curriculum and assessments in England last year, in the hope of developing a “cutting edge” curriculum that would narrow attainment gaps between the most disadvantaged students and their classmates.
It said it would take up most of the review’s recommendations, including scrapping the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), a progress measure for schools introduced in 2010.
It assesses schools based on how many pupils take English, maths, sciences, geography or history and a language – and how well they do.
The Department for Education (DfE) said the EBacc was “constraining”, and that removing it alongside reforms to another school ranking system, Progress 8, would “encourage students to study a greater breadth of GCSE subjects”, like arts.
The former Conservative schools minister, Nick Gibb, said the decision to scrap the EBacc would “lead to a precipitous decline in the study of foreign languages”, which he said would become increasingly centred on private schools and “children of middle class parents who can afford tutors”.
Other reforms coming as a result of the curriculum review include:
- Financial literacy being taught in maths classes, or compulsory citizenship lessons in primary schools
- More focus on spotting misinformation and disinformation – including exploring a new post-16 qualification in data science and AI
- Cutting time spent on GCSE exams by up to three hours for each student on average
- Ensuring all children can take three science GCSEs
- More content on climate change
- Better representation of diversity
The review also recommended giving oracy the same status in the curriculum as reading and writing, which the charity Voice 21 said was a “vital step forward” for teaching children valuable speaking, listening, and communication skills.
However, the government is not taking up all of the review’s recommendations.
It is pushing ahead with the reading tests for Year 8 pupils reported in September, whereas the review recommended compulsory English and maths tests for that year group.
Asked why she stopped short of taking up the review’s recommendation, Phillipson told the BBC that pupils who are unable to read “fluently and confidently” often struggle in other subjects.
And she addressed the claims that scrapping the EBacc could lead to fewer pupils taking history, geography and languages at GCSE, saying the measure “hasn’t led to improved outcomes” or “improvement in language study”.
“I want young people to have a good range of options, including subjects like art and music and sport. And I know that’s what parents want as well,” she said.
She said ministers recognised “the need to implement this carefully, thoroughly and with good notice”, adding that schools would have four terms of notice before being expected to teach the new curriculum.
Prof Becky Francis, who chaired the review, said her panel of experts and the government had both identified a “problem” pupils experience during the first years of secondary school.
“When young people progress from primary into secondary school, typically this is a time when their learning can start falling behind, and that’s particularly the case for kids from socially disadvantaged backgrounds,” she told the BBC.
She said the approach to the review was “evolution not revolution”, with England’s pupils already performing relatively well against international averages.
She said the call for more representation of diversity in the curriculum was not about “getting rid of core foundational texts and things that are really central to our culture”, but was more about “recognising where, both as a nation but also globally, there’s been diverse contribution to science and cultural progress”.
Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott said the changes “leave children with a weaker understanding of our national story and hide standards slipping in schools”.
“Education vandalism will be the lasting legacy of the prime minister and Bridget Phillipson,” she added.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the review had proposed “a sensible, evidence-based set of reforms”.
But he said delivering a “great curriculum” also required “sufficient funding and teachers”, adding that schools and colleges did not currently have all the resources they need.
He said a set of “enrichment benchmarks” – which the government said would offer pupils access to civic engagement, arts and culture, nature and adventure, sport, and life skills – had been announced “randomly” and “added to the many expectations over which schools are judged”.
Additional reporting by Hope Rhodes
Motorists are facing higher fuel prices ahead of Easter break due to the conflict in the Middle East, the RAC says.
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Business
E-cheques coming soon? RBI unveils Payments Vision 2028, plans wider oversight of digital players – The Times of India
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday unveiled its ‘Payments Vision 2028’ document, outlining a roadmap that includes exploring electronic cheques, expanding regulatory oversight to digital platforms, and strengthening safeguards in the fast-growing payments ecosystem, PTI reported.The central bank said it will examine the introduction of e-cheques to combine the advantages of paper instruments with the speed and reliability of digital payments. “To leverage the unique benefits of paper-based instruments and the speed and reliability of electronic payments, and cater to new business use cases, the introduction of electronic cheques in India shall be explored,” the RBI said.Alongside, the RBI is considering widening the regulatory ambit to include entities such as e-commerce marketplaces and centralised platforms that play a growing role in facilitating digital transactions.“In addition, e-commerce marketplaces and centralized platforms have been assuming significant responsibilities that could have implications on the orderly functioning of the payments ecosystem. These aspects shall be examined in detail and, if required, the scope of direct regulations shall be extended to cover such entities,” the document said.The vision document also proposes allowing users to enable or disable transactions across digital payment modes, similar to controls available for card transactions.To address fraud risks, the RBI is exploring a “shared responsibility framework” under which both the issuing bank and the beneficiary bank would share liability in cases of unauthorised digital transactions.The central bank also plans to review cheque design and security features, introduce a Domestic Legal Entity Identifier (DLEI) framework for better transaction traceability, and bring in a Cyber Key Risk Indicators (KRI) framework for non-bank payment system operators.Other initiatives include exploring white-label solutions in the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS), developing interoperability in the Trade Receivables e-Discounting System (TReDS), and introducing a ‘Payments Switching Service’ to ease customer migration across platforms.The RBI said it will also review the cross-border payments ecosystem to improve efficiency and streamline authorisation processes, alongside publishing periodic reports on global and domestic payment trends.Additionally, the central bank aims to enhance access to payment data and reimagine the card payments ecosystem by promoting secure tokenisation, improved transparency in pricing, and greater choice for users and merchants.
Blue chips in London outperformed European and US peers on Friday, but closed marginally lower, as oil prices rose once more amid few signs of progress in ending the Iran war.
“The simple fact is that sentiment is likely to stay negative for as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains unsafe for shipping and controlled by Iran,” commented David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.
The FTSE 100 closed down just 4.82 points at 9,967.35. The FTSE 250 ended down 331.32 points, 1.6%, at 20,964.75, and the AIM All-Share closed down 13.43 points, 1.9%, at 705.63.
For the week, the FTSE 100 rose 0.5%, the FTSE 250 fell 1.8% and the AIM All-Share Index fell 1.7%.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump issued a 10-day extension on his deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy assets.
But with Iran maintaining a hold on the Straits, Mr Trump’s announcement largely failed to lift the mood for markets.
“Traders are now discounting the daily torrent of posts and incoherent press conferences from the White House, as the war rages on,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
“Investors are facing the facts: the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed and it does not appear that there is a real end in sight to the war.”
Mr Trump has insisted Iran wanted “to make a deal” to end the war engulfing the region, but the Iranian side has indicated no let-up in reprisal attacks against Israel and targets across the Gulf.
Kuwait said on Friday its main commercial port was damaged in a drone attack.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency said the country has responded to Washington’s 15-point plan to end the war and was awaiting a reply.
Reports also suggested the US is weighing up sending up to 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East, fuelling speculation that Washington may be preparing for a potential ground operation in Iran.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the move would provide Mr Trump with “more military options”.
Amid the impasse, the oil price’s upward trajectory resumed.
Brent oil was higher at 111.63 US dollars a barrel on Friday afternoon, from 108.80 dollars late on Thursday.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 0.9%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended 1.4% lower.
“Trump’s 10-day Taco (Trump always chickens out) has had a less profound impact compared with Monday’s five-day reprieve, with equities losing ground in Europe despite the president’s decision to once again postpone strikes on key energy infrastructure. Instead, there is a real concern that we could see escalation through the use of boots on the ground,” said Joshua Mahony at Scope Markets.
Stocks in New York were lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.1%, the S&P 500 index was 1.0% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.4%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury widened to 4.42% on Friday from 4.40% on Thursday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury stretched to 4.95% from 4.94%.
The pound fell to 1.3288 US dollars on Friday afternoon from 1.3338 dollars at the equities close on Thursday. Against the euro, sterling fell to 1.1554 euros from 1.1563 euros a day prior.
The euro stood lower against the greenback at 1.1521 dollars from 1.1534 dollars. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was trading higher at 160.10 yen compared to 159.65 yen.
Supporting the FTSE 100, AstraZeneca rose 3.4% after reporting positive phase three results for its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treatment, tozorakimab.
The company said the drug delivered “significant and highly clinically meaningful” reductions in exacerbations in two replicate trials, Oberon and Titania.
The Bank of America said the data was a “pleasant surprise” after failed trials at Roche and Sanofi for similar drugs.
Cambridge-based AstraZeneca is the FTSE 100’s most valuable company, worth about £223 billion.
The firm sees peak sales for tozorakimab of 3-5 billion dollars, while the current Visible Alpha consensus is 1.2 billion dollars.
3i rallied by 1.0%, after slumping 18% on Thursday amid disappointing like-for-like growth at its main investment, Dutch discount retailer Action.
JPMorgan said lower guidance for flat margins and lower like-for-like sales at Action “than we were expecting, was disappointing.”
Nonetheless, JPM said Action remains a “leading compound growth story” and “3i now offers a cheap way in”.
Elsewhere, the rising gold price boosted Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining, up 0.6% and 1.9% respectively.
Gold rose to 4,517.90 dollars an ounce on Friday from 4,383.70 dollars at the same time on Thursday.
NatWest rose 0.9% as Deutsche Bank raised its share price target to 840p from 730p.
“NatWest has unfairly derated in our view,” analyst Robert Noble said.
In the debit column, Metlen Energy was the biggest faller, down 8.6%.
The Athens-based energy and metallurgy company said auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers have requested more time to complete work on its 2025 financial statements, its first as a dual-listed company in London and Athens.
The group now expects to release results on April 9, a nine-day delay, and reiterated guidance for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of around £750 million.
Housebuilders were once more under pressure. The Bank of America cut price targets by 20% across the sector and lowered pre-tax profit forecasts by 7% through 2026 to 2028, with sector earnings per share expectations now 6% below consensus.
Barratt Redrow fell 4.7%, Persimmon 3.9% and Taylor Wimpey 1.7%.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were: AstraZeneca, up 472.0p at 14,302.0p; Endeavour Mining, up 80.0p at 4,262.0p; Rio Tinto, up 115.0p at 6,545.0p; Reckitt Benckiser, up 90.0p at 5,164.0p; and Glencore, up 6.4p at 538.4p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were: Metlen Energy & Metals, down 3.0p at 31.75p; Barratt Redrow, down 12.6p at 255.7p; Babcock International, down 57.0p at 1,155.0p; Persimmon, down 43.0p at 1,075.0p; and Autotrader, down 17.5p at 447.3p.
Monday’s global economic calendar has UK mortgage approvals data at 7am BST. German and Italian inflation figures are also due, along with the Dallas Fed manufacturing index in the US.
Monday’s local corporate calendar has full-year results from Artisanal Spirits, Aoti and RTW Biotech.
In Europe, daylight saving time starts on Sunday, and clocks go forward by one hour.
Contributed by Alliance News
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