CIC: What is happening and when

Change to the curriculum is a big deal.  It is not something that happens overnight, neither in terms of changing what is set out on paper nor when it comes to changing what happens in schools up and down the land. 

Education Scotland is leading Scotland’s Curriculum Improvement Cycle and are aiming to be as clear as possible about what change is on the way and when the products of the CIC work will start to be seen in the system. 

Donna McMaster, new CEO of Education Scotland, has very helpfully set out the timeline for publication at different stages of this process.  AHDS continues to engage in a range of associated groups on behalf of members but felt that it would be useful to share the CIC Publication Schedule set out below.

In addition, we have an opportunity for members to hear direct from Donna as part of our TTT programme – visit our CLPL pages for more information and booking.  

“CIC Publication Schedule 

June 2026 

We remain on track to publish a number of key documents as part of the technical framework for the evolved curriculum in June 2026. These will include: 

• Draft Curriculum Design Guidance (with the final version of this guidance scheduled to replace Building the Curriculum 1–5 from August 2028). 
• Draft samples from each Curriculum Area within the new Know–Do–Understand (KDU) Model. The sample includes an illustrative Big Idea and a KDU progression strand from Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Early to Fourth Level, co-created with teachers, practitioners and partners. The samples build on the early thinking for mathematics shared in November 2025. 

These materials are deliberately being published in draft form. Their purpose is to give practitioners and stakeholders a clear sense of how the evolved guidance and KDU model differs from the current Experiences and Outcomes (Es&Os) and Benchmarks, rather than to present a complete or finalised framework at this stage. The KDU Model will replace the current Es&Os and Benchmarks from August 2028. 

In response to feedback, we have decided to publish the full draft KDU model after the summer break. This will allow continuing refinement over the summer before the full draft is shared more widely for feedback. The feedback period will then run from September to November 2026. 

September to November 2026 

In September 2026, we will publish draft KDU Models for each of the eight Curriculum Areas. These drafts will set out the proposed progression from CfE Early to Fourth level within each Curriculum Area. Further refinement to ensure coherence and consistency across levels will still be ongoing at this stage. 

We believe that sharing work at an early stage is an important part of being open and transparent, giving practitioners and partners a meaningful opportunity to feedback before materials are finalised. To support both the release of the draft materials and the associated feedback process, a series of webinars will be available during the period September–November 2026 and we will share the dates of these before the summer. 

During this period, we will also share examples of how the final framework could be presented to support practical use in different contexts, including careful consideration for the Early Years. All feedback gathered during this phase will be used to further refine the materials ahead of their final publication in January 2027. 

January 2027 

In January 2027, we will publish the final refreshed curriculum design guidance together with the final KDU Model for each of the eight Curriculum Areas from Early through to Fourth Level. 

In addition, we will develop a digital tool for practitioners to access and explore the updated guidance and KDU model. We expect this digital tool to be available in Spring 2027. 

Other key dates 

Education Scotland and Qualifications Scotland continue to work closely together and remain committed to one of the core principles of the Curriculum Improvement Cycle: that curriculum must drive qualifications. 

The final refreshed curriculum design guidance is due to be published in January 2027, joint work between Education Scotland and Qualifications Scotland will continue during 2026/27 to ensure alignment between the technical framework of the Broad General Education (BGE) and the Senior Phase. 

In parallel, work will begin on the framework of assessment for the evolved BGE, which is expected to be completed in summer 2027.”