UK National Curriculum
The National Curriculum was introduced into England, Wales and Northern Ireland as a nationwide curriculum for primary and secondary state schools following the Education Reform Act (1988).
It is not a mandatory framework for independent or private schools. Private schools are free to choose their own curriculum and examinations and many have opted for the IGCSE which is not tied to the National Curriculum.
As well as private schools, UK based academies and free schools may also set their own curricula.
Scotland has its own national curriculum.
International schools - in the UK and outside of it - clearly choose to adopt the framework, each one more or less rigorously.
The purpose of the National Curriculum has been to standardise the content taught across schools to enable assessment, which in turn enabled the compilation of league tables detailing the assessment statistics for each school.
The idea has been to raise educational standards by being able to see where there are weaknesses.
These league tables, together with the provision to parents of some degree of choice in assignment of the school for their child (also legislated in the same act) was also intended to encourage a free market by allowing parents to choose schools based on their measured ability to teach the National Curriculum.
For international schools outside the UK, the framework allows schools to benchmark themselves against their peers in the United Kingdom.
Assessments are carried out at three ages: seven (school year 2, at the end of Key Stage 1), eleven (Year 6, the end of Key Stage 2) and fourteen (Year 9, the end of Key Stage 3). Some aspects of subjects are teacher-assessed, whilst others involve sitting an examination paper.
The results are considered when school and LEA performance league tables are being compiled, but they do not lead to any formal qualification for the candidates taking them.
| Subject | Key Stage 1 (age 5–7) |
Key Stage 2 (age 7–11) |
Key Stage 3 (age 11–14) |
Key Stage 4 (age 14-16) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | x | x | x | x |
| Mathematics | x | x | x | x |
| Science | x | x | x | x |
| Computing | x | x | x | x |
| Physical Education | x | x | x | x |
| Geography | x | x | x | |
| History | x | x | x | |
| Music | x | x | x | |
| Art & Design | x | x | x | |
| Design & Technology | x | x | x | |
| Modern Foreign Languages | x | x | ||
| Citizenship | x | x | ||
| Work-related Learning | x | |||
| Welsh (Wales only) | x | x | x | x |
The study of most subjects under the National Curriculum would usually culminate in the sitting of GCSE exams at the end of Key Stage 4.
18 Singapore Schools offering UK National Curriculum
| School name | Community | District |
|---|---|---|
| Brighton College (Singapore) | Serangoon | Singapore North East |
| Dover Court | Queenstown | Singapore Central |
| Dulwich College (Singapore) | Jurong | Singapore West |
| Dynamics International School | Tanglin | Singapore Central |
| GIIS SMART Campus | Punggol | Singapore North East |
| Insworld Institute | Kallang | Singapore Central |
| Invictus International School (Centrium) | Museum & Rochor | Singapore Central |
| King's InterHigh (South East Asia) | International | Online |
| LEEDS International School | Bukit Timah | Singapore Central |
| Middleton International School (West Coast) | Queenstown | Singapore Central |
| Nexus International School (Singapore) | Toa Payoh | Singapore Central |
| North London Collegiate School (Singapore) | Queenstown | Singapore Central |
| One World International School (Nanyang) | Jurong | Singapore West |
| OWIS Suntec Campus | Downtown Core | Singapore Central |
| Sir Manasseh Meyer International School | Yishun & Sembawang | Singapore North |
| Tanglin Trust School | Queenstown | Singapore Central |
| The Perse School Singapore | Bukit Timah | Singapore Central |
| Wellington College (Singapore) |
