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National Curriculum

The National Curriculum

The National Curriculum sets out the stages and core subjects your child will be taught throughout their school life. Children aged five to 16 in state or maintained schools must be taught according to the National Curriculum.

The National Curriculum is a statutory framework used by all government funded maintained schools to ensure that teaching and learning is balanced and consistent.

It sets out:

• the subjects taught
• the knowledge, skills and understanding required in each subject
• standards or attainment targets in each subject that teachers can use to measure your child's progress and plan their future learning
• how your child's progress is assessed, tested and reported

Within the framework of the National Curriculum, schools are free to plan and organise teaching and learning in the way that best meets the needs of their pupils. Many schools use the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) Schemes of Work to plan the curriculum. These provide a basis for delivering the National Curriculum.

Further information is available about the National Curriculum.

Useful links to the DirectGov website include:

Early learning from three to five: what your child will learn
The National Curriculum for five to 11 year olds
The National Curriculum for 11 to 16 year olds

The National Curriculum key stages

The National Curriculum is organised into blocks of years called 'key stages'.

There are four key stages as well as a Foundation Stage, which covers children below the minimum compulsory schooling age of five.

National Curriculum terms explained

Programme of study

Programmes of study set out what pupils should be taught in each subject at each key stage. Teachers use these to plan and organise lessons.

Attainment Targets

Each National Curriculum subject has one or more attainment target. The targets identify the knowledge, skills and understanding which pupils of different abilities and maturities are expected to have by the end of each key stage. Attainment targets for each statutory subject include eight level descriptions of increasing difficulty.

National Curriculum levels

For Key Stages 1, 2, and 3, the National Curriculum is accompanied by a series of eight levels. Your child's school will send you a report telling you what National Curriculum levels your child has reached in both tests and assessments.

Teacher assessments

Teachers check your child's progress in each subject as a normal part of their teaching by looking at their work. Your child's teacher carries out a teacher assessment to decide which National Curriculum level best describes your child’s performance in each area of learning in that subject.   At Key Stage 1 this is the main reported level, although the tests are used to help the teachers with their final assessment

End of Key Stage test

These are the national tests (SATs) your child must take at the end of each key stage, which your child takes at ages seven, 11 and 14. They show your child's performance in selected parts of a subject on a particular day. For example, at the end of Key Stage 2 pupils are tested in English, Maths and Science. These tests give an independent measure of how pupils and schools are doing compared with national standards in these subjects. At Key Stage 1 the tests are done as part of normal Year 2 classroom work any time from February onwards.  For Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 they are done during the first or second week in May.