The National Curriculum

In 2013, the DfE published the National Curriculum for England to be taught in all maintained primary and secondary schools from September 2014. The primary aim of this shake up of the curriculum was to improve the standards of education and give children in England a strong and relevant knowledge base.
The changes mean that schools have to include the following core and foundation subjects into their curriculum:

Core - English, Maths and Science.

Foundation - Art and Design, Computing, Design and Technology, Geography, History, Music, P.E and, for Key Stage 2 children, a Modern Foreign Language.

There is no provision in the reforms for the implementation of Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE), R.E, outdoor learning or drama but schools are free to include other subjects or topics in addition to the core and foundation topics in their own curriculum.

As a result of the changes to the Curriculum, there is now more challenge in Mathematics, there is a greater emphasis on Science. The reforms introduced Computing as a topic in place of ICT, there is an increased emphasis on British History and there have been changes to when some topics are taught in a child's school career.


Please browse the websites below for some further information about the recent Curriculum reforms.