Ed Sheeran praises reform to arts education in schools

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".

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".

The Liberal Democrats have welcomed the broadening of the curriculum, but said "scrapping instead of broadening the EBacc is not the right move."

Education spokeswoman Munira Wilson said head teachers were having to "cut their budgets to the bone" and would be asking how they are supposed to fund the changes.

"Without a costed plan and proper workforce strategy, these reforms will stretch teachers even further and fail our children," she said.

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.

"It's ironic that the government keep asking for more and more from a pot that is actually getting smaller and smaller," Di'Iasio added.

"We'd ask the government to look carefully at school finances and make sure they invest so that we can make sure we can implement the shared aspirations and ambitions of this report."

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".