Preparing learners to thrive in a changing world
One year on
Making meaningful change, together
Since we published this research in September 2025, teams across Cambridge have been acting on what we heard from teachers and students. As we mark the first anniversary, we want to share the progress made and reaffirm our commitment to building on this momentum with our global community. Together, we are shaping the future of education.
A message from Rod Smith
Group Managing Director, International Education
Last year, we launched a global conversation to understand how teachers, students and our wider education community feel about students' future-readiness in a changing world. Since then, a lot has happened and the conversation has only grown more important. As the pace of change continues to accelerate – from AI breakthroughs to climate shifts – education must respond to give students the best chance to adapt and thrive.
We have always viewed this research as a collaboration with our community, shaping new initiatives to benefit students. As we reflect on the first year, and the progress we have made, I want to thank everyone who has been on the journey with us. We designed our global and regional events programme around the report’s themes, so we could explore the findings and support educators in these areas, and the response has been fantastic. We have had nearly 50 000 conversations and interactions with school leaders and teachers around the world, sharing ideas and working together on practical outcomes.
Students are at the heart of everything we do at Cambridge and their perspectives on future-readiness have been crucial to our progress. We pledged to make student consultation a permanent feature of our work, and are delighted to make good on that promise with the launch of our new Cambridge Student Advisory Council↗. Through online research activities and interactive sessions, including focus groups, panels and expert Q&As, Cambridge students will be able to share their insights and benefit from opportunities to develop future-ready skills.
Every Cambridge learner aged 16 and over is welcome to join the council and every voice matters. It is a chance for students from different countries to collaborate, build confidence and explore topics that matter to them. The council is an important step in helping students shape the future of education, and we look forward to learning from their experiences.
In this update, you will find out how we have been taking forward many other initiatives to make an ever-greater difference to students' futures. There is much still to do, but we are acting on the education priorities we identified and delivering meaningful change.
Rod Smith September 2026
Progress on priorities
Our research identified five clear priorities for action in education to prepare students better for the future. We have made progress against these priorities and continue to explore them with our schools and partners worldwide.
You can click on each priority to navigate between the sections.
Increase skills awareness
The challenge
Many students we surveyed did not feel ready for the future: fewer than half felt prepared for their next step in education or their future beyond it. Teachers were more confident, suggesting that students are underestimating their readiness.
We know that success in the future will depend not only on what learners know, but also on what they can do with that knowledge. That is why we have been progressing work to make the skills embedded within our curriculum more visible to students, teachers and universities, which will in turn support teaching and learning.
We have evidenced that Cambridge International AS & A Levels are rich in future skills. We have published a research study highlighting the skills learners develop through Cambridge International AS & A Levels. We have since built on this work. We have shown how we embed complex thinking skills – systems thinking, problem-solving and metacognition – in our A Level portfolio, through syllabuses and supporting resources. These future skills, developed alongside deep subject knowledge, create a powerful combination that universities consistently tell us they value. By working closely with universities, we make sure our qualifications equip students with the skills they need for higher education and beyond.
We are introducing a skills framework to give schools a deeper understanding of our approach. Building on research from the University of Cambridge, as well as other organisations, our new framework highlights the skills that we believe are needed for future readiness. It groups future skills into five clear categories, helping teachers to see the range of skills covered in our programmes, plan lessons to cover skills from all five areas, and identify skills they may be less familiar with – so they can become more confident teaching them.
The framework will also support conversations with students and parents about our approach to skill development, and help to build learner confidence. We will soon begin to include our skills framework in our syllabuses and assessments, resources, support and professional development.
We are developing a Skills Profile tool that will help students make informed decisions about their Cambridge International AS & A Level choices. Students will be able to explore how different subjects, and subject combinations, develop complex thinking skills, such as comprehension, application, analysis, evaluation and systems thinking.
A student pursuing the sciences, for example, may see strong development in analytical skills, while also identifying opportunities to strengthen other capabilities through complementary activities, experiences or short courses.
We see this as an empowering tool. It enables learners to better understand the depth of their choices, identify opportunities for growth, and build a broader and more balanced profile of attributes.
Ultimately, it represents our wider ambition: not simply to deliver qualifications, but to help every learner recognise and articulate the unique combination of knowledge, skills and attributes they develop through a Cambridge education - preparing them to thrive in an increasingly complex world.
We will seek feedback on the Skills Profile tool from guidance counsellors in late 2026, helping to shape its development.
Reframe subject knowledge
The challenge
As AI capabilities grow, the temptation to offload thinking is strong. Our research revealed that students are questioning the value of subject knowledge when AI can produce instant answers. However, the ability to retrieve information is not the same as building subject knowledge. Being able to process, organise and retain information is a critical foundation for advanced cognitive skills.
We are leading conversations about how AI can support learning, while addressing its challenges. Understanding how humans learn has never been more important. Learning is not simply about finding the right answer – it's about making connections, questioning ideas, practising, reflecting and building lasting understanding. These are exactly the skills taught across the Cambridge curriculum.
To help our learners and teachers get the best out of AI in education, we have entered a partnership with Educate Ventures Research (EVR)↗. EVR is led by Professor Rose Luckin, who has spoken at recent Cambridge Schools Conferences on how education must adapt for an AI-enabled world. The collaboration will support us to deliver trusted guidance to schools on AI that is fully integrated, evidence-led, ethical and sustainable. Cambridge students will be fully prepared for a world shaped by AI and perhaps most importantly, they will have been led by teachers who themselves have been trained and supported with Cambridge resources to build their own understanding of AI.
Teachers looking to develop their skills can also enrol in our new online course, 'Getting Started with AI in the Classroom'. Booking is open for courses that begin in March and June 2027↗.
Professor Rose Luckin at the Cambridge Schools Conference in Cambridge, 2026.
"For AI to truly benefit learners, we need clarity about what we are asking it to do. AI should always be in service of building human intelligence, not substituting for it. That means developing the full range of human capabilities: the metacognitive skills, the sophisticated thinking and the capacity for self-directed learning that will allow people to thrive alongside AI throughout their lives."
Professor Rose Luckin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Educate Ventures Research
Support self-management
The challenge
Our research revealed that students and teachers view self-management skills as critical for the future, but find them difficult to teach and learn.
Professor Sara Baker at the Cambridge Schools Conference in Bali, 2025.
We committed to giving schools more support with developing self-management skills, which help shape good habits and enable students to adapt well to new situations. We have worked closely with Professor Sara Baker from the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education, and Mitch Weathers, educator, author and founder of Organized Binder, to share expertise in executive functioning skills with teachers globally through our resources and events.
We convened an Education Summit in Cambridge on 14 September 2026 to deepen understanding of self-management skills and inform the development of new resources and research. Senior education leaders, academics and researchers joined Cambridge colleagues to explore current research and identify evidence-informed approaches that will support learners across the curriculum, from literacy to wellbeing. The insights from this summit will shape future initiatives to help schools make executive function and self-management skills easier to teach and learn.
Attendees at the Education Summit in Cambridge, 2026.
We have published a Getting Started with Executive Functions↗ guide to help address the challenges of developing students’ self-management skills. It combines research evidence with practical tips for teachers.
"Young people who are in the care of adults who intentionally expose them to executive functions are very fortunate. It has lifelong impact."
Mitch Weathers, speaking at our Education Summit in September 2026
Strengthen oracy
The challenge
Teachers and students highlighted the difficulties that many young people have with communication and interpersonal skills, particularly handling difficult and important conversations. Fear of getting communication wrong hampers the development of skills which students see as vital for future success.
Students need oracy skills in all aspects of their lives, helping them to develop positive relationships as well as express their ideas clearly, argue respectfully and ask insightful questions. As we revise and develop our curricula, we are looking for new ways to strengthen oracy. In turn, this helps students develop broader communication and interpersonal skills by helping them articulate their thinking, listen to different perspectives and engage confidently in discussion. Here are some examples:
Our relaunched Cambridge International Project Qualification (IPQ)↗ now includes a mandatory presentation where the student talks about their finished project and responds to questions from their teachers, and even their peers, about the content.
Designed to develop independent study skills in readiness for university and careers, we have revised our IPQ to give students more opportunities to showcase their creativity and passion. From 2028, they will be able to choose to develop either a written research report or a physical artefact. The artefact might be a short film or website, a piece of creative writing or artwork, a model or prototype, scientific or engineering build or even a live performance. Learners follow a project structure but are given the autonomy to lead the project in their own way.
While we were redeveloping the qualification, schools told us that:
- a mandatory presentation is a powerful way of verifying a student’s engagement and understanding of their work
- the skill of oracy gives students an advantage in building their confidence to explain and defend their work without reliance on AI
- they expect universities to increasingly use oracy-based assessment to check and authenticate students’ comprehension.
Students speaking at the Global Perspectives Fair, Italy.
We are creating more opportunities for students to speak on real-world issues through our events and initiatives, to help schools develop wider communication and interpersonal skills. Our Cambridge Global Perspectives Fair in Latin America and the Caribbean↗ in May brought together 57 schools from 9 countries with students of all ages presenting to an online audience of over 1000 participants. We also held our first in-person Fair in Italy↗ to give students a public platform to showcase their research, teamwork and communication skills. We are now looking to replicate the success of these fairs in other regions, building dialogue and connection through the study of Cambridge Global Perspectives.
Cambridge students also played an important role in our campaign to support schools with climate change conversations. They shared their views and experiences in focus groups, helping shape our guide for educators: Caring for Emotions in Climate Change Education↗. Their contributions reinforced the importance of giving young people space to express how they feel about the climate crisis and the role of education in helping them respond with confidence, care and action.
Together with our new Cambridge Student Advisory Council↗, which is open to all Cambridge learners aged 16+, we are creating new ways for students to gain oracy skills and engage thoughtfully and critically with difficult issues.
"Quote from student."
Student, United Arab Emirates
Foster connections
The challenge
Our research highlighted that, in a time of profound change, the role of schools and teachers has never been more important. By strengthening the role of school as the place to foster meaningful connections, we will support students’ wellbeing and help them build productive relationships.
Through our research into communication and interpersonal skills, and the benefits and challenges in developing them (see Strengthen oracy), we found that students and teachers are thinking not only about how students interact with others, but how those interactions make them feel. Concerns around social anxiety and fear of judgement are part of a wider conversation around wellbeing and belonging.
We have started to explore ways to extend our wellbeing curriculum to older learners to support students’ personal, social and emotional development. Schools globally are grappling with issues around student wellbeing, with UNESCO reporting that one in seven adolescents lives with a diagnosable mental health condition and many more report stress and anxiety – all of which affect their learning and futures. Cambridge already has an award-winning Wellbeing curriculum for students aged 5 to 14, and we have started to explore what this would look like for older students.
The first phase of research is underway with schools globally, revealing high levels of interest and support. Next, our curriculum developers will propose a framework, working closely with schools to get their feedback. We also plan to engage with our new Cambridge Student Advisory Council to get their perspectives. Thank you to all the schools that are helping us with this important work.
"At this stage of life [post-14], young people face increasing academic pressure, career decisions, identity formation, and greater independence – making wellbeing education particularly valuable."
Cambridge teacher, Nigeria (research respondent)
Looking to the future
While we have reflected here on the progress made against five specific priorities, our focus is firmly on what comes next. The conversation about what it means to be ready for the future is continuing with school leaders, teachers and students worldwide. And we are already looking ahead to our next series of in-person Cambridge Schools Conferences, where we will discuss the interpersonal and communication skills that matter in a changing world.
We believe young people should see the future as something they can influence, not just accept. Developing skills in ‘futures thinking’ - a structured process for imagining and planning for possible (and preferred) futures – could help them explore the types of future they would like to see. Our Education Futures team has already used futures thinking techniques to research how educators, parents and learners anticipate the future of learning, and we will look for ways to build skills in futures thinking through our professional development offer and curricula.
Our curriculum teams are also exploring opportunities across the Cambridge Pathway to further develop future-ready skills. For example, we have completely refreshed our Cambridge Primary and Lower Secondary Digital Literacy curricula to empower learners to question, evaluate and shape technology – not just consume it. We have also introduced an accompanying series of ‘Explorations’ resources↗ that include hands- on activities for learners. By the time learners begin Cambridge IGCSE they will be fully aware of the risks and opportunities around AI, internet security, misinformation and social media – and be equipped with an essential set of skills for life.
Sharing ideas at the Cambridge Schools Conference in Cambridge, 2026
At the upper end of the Cambridge Pathway, we are creating more holistic and enriched learning journeys for our Cambridge International AS & A Level students. As well as revising our Cambridge IPQ (see Strengthen oracy), we are piloting a Cambridge Advanced Skills Award in Entrepreneurial Mindset↗, developed in collaboration with IE University in Spain. The Award is a 60-hour programme that teaches the broader skill set around innovative problem solving and resilience. Schools in China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, New Zealand, Czech Republic and Poland began teaching the award in September 2026, and we are looking forward to hearing how they get on.
From digital exams to new professional development courses, our teams are designing the tools and learning experiences needed for the future of education. As the world continues to change, we will evolve alongside it, and keep working with our community to help every learner thrive.