To ask the Minister of Education whether his Department has assessed the potential impact of TransformED on the time available within the curriculum for creative and expressive subjects.

TransformED is a broad programme of education reform encompassing curriculum, qualifications, assessment, school improvement, tackling educational disadvantage and teacher professional learning. The programme has been informed by extensive engagement, including calls for evidence, stakeholder engagement, surveys and formal consultation. Given the breadth of the programme, it is not possible to provide a comprehensive account of issues raised by individual sectors across all areas of reform.

The new Northern Ireland Curriculum 2028 significantly strengthens pupils' entitlement to creative disciplines through detailed, structured and sequenced subject frameworks. While decisions on curriculum time remain a matter for schools, the new curriculum provides a clearer statutory entitlement to learning in subjects such as art and design, music and drama than is currently available.

The curriculum capabilities identify creativity and imagination, language and communication, physical health and wellbeing, and social and civic participation as key capabilities that emerge from engagement with a knowledge-rich curriculum. It explicitly recognises the contribution of music, art and design, drama and literature to the development of these capabilities. Creativity, confidence, communication, empathy and civic participation are therefore recognised as important outcomes of education, although the framework is clear that capabilities should not be directly assessed, tracked or audited.

Creative subjects are given enhanced prominence within the new curriculum. From Foundation Stage to Key Stage 3, pupils benefit from clearly defined progression, specified knowledge and a stronger guarantee of access to high-quality creative learning.

Phased implementation, supported by high-quality curriculum resources and professional learning, will help schools deliver the new curriculum effectively while ensuring that creative subjects remain an integral part of every pupil's educational experience.