The Royal Society of Biology is working with the bioscience community, and researchers and practising teachers in the education community, to inform its position on a coherent 5-19 framework to support future biology curriculum development. Our approach taken in developing the framework has been 'evolution not revolution', mapping existing curricula, developing the big questions of biology and revising statements within the context of 5-19 education across the UK nations. In this article, examples are given of decisions made regarding learning progressions through 11-16 biology and next steps in developing recommendations for other essential aspects of 11-16 biology