Curriculum

When the basic education curriculum is reformed, how to keep your materials up to date

Assessment and the core curriculum for basic education are being reformed. A practical guide to updating your materials without starting from scratch.

Jaakko Rannila, founder, Bruukki

The national core curriculum for basic education is being reformed. In the competence guarantee reform, the Finnish National Agency for Education updates the core curriculum in the parts the law change requires, which means reforming assessment and reviewing the objectives, contents and minimum competence level in every subject by grade level (Opetushallitus 2026). The law changes on assessment are intended to take effect on 1 August 2027, and the amending regulation on the core curriculum will be issued by 31 October 2027 at the latest. The exact schedule depends on how long the parliamentary process takes.

Alongside this, the learning support reform has already taken effect: the updated core curricula for pre-primary and basic education were published in 2025, and their adoption has its own transition periods (Finnish National Agency for Education).

From a teacher’s point of view the question is familiar: when the core curriculum changes, some of the old materials no longer match the objectives and assessment criteria. This guide walks through how to update your materials without starting from scratch.

What changes for the teacher in the reform

The core of the reform is assessment and the fact that every subject’s objectives, contents and minimum competence level are reviewed by grade level. In practice this means the assessment criteria and, in part, the emphases of contents become more precise. What matters to a material maker is which existing materials are fine as they are, what needs updating, and where new material is needed.

It is worth following the communications of the Finnish National Agency for Education and the Ministry of Education and Culture about the schedule (Ministry of Education and Culture: reforms of basic education), because the exact dates become clearer as the legislation proceeds.

Do not start from scratch; map what already exists

The temptation in the face of a reform is to build the materials anew. That is the heaviest route. A lighter starting point is to go through the materials that have already worked and see which ones match the new objectives with a small edit.

One way is to divide materials roughly into three: those that are fine as they are; those that need updating to a new assessment criterion or content; and gaps where new material is needed. Most of the old usually falls into the first two. Genuine gaps are often fewer than it feels at first.

Build differentiation and support in at the same time

When you are updating materials anyway, it is a natural moment to build the different skill levels and support in ready. The learning support reform emphasises the role of support, and you can make a lighter and a more demanding version of the same topic in one go, so differentiation does not become separate extra work. This is covered in more detail in the differentiation guide.

How Bruukki helps with the update

You bring your existing material into Bruukki and ask the AI assistant to assess how well it matches the objectives, contents and assessment criteria of the selected curriculum. You get a suggestion for what would be worth editing. The AI suggests the changes, you decide what stays. When the reformed core curricula are selectable in Bruukki, you can check the material against them with the same way of working.

Where to start

It is not worth updating the whole syllabus at once. One way is to start from a single unit that comes into teaching first after the reform takes effect, and carry it to the end. Once the method is familiar, you can repeat it for the next ones. This way your materials get up to date before the changes take effect.

If you want to try how your own material bends against the curriculum, try Bruukki for free. We are glad to receive teachers’ feedback, so tell us if something does not work.

Sources

Read also: the curriculum reform in vocational education and how to align your teaching materials with the curriculum.

Bruukki's AI was used to help write this guide.

Try it with your own material

The AI suggests, you decide.