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.
School name | Community | Region |
---|---|---|
Abercorn School | Camden | Greater London |
Abingdon School | Oxfordshire | South East England |
Akeley Wood School | Buckinghamshire | South East England |
Aldro School | Surrey | South East England |
Ardingly College | West Sussex | South East England |
Ardvreck School | Perth and Kinross | Scotland |
Ashville College | Yorkshire | North East England |
Barrow Hills School | Surrey | South East England |
Beachborough School | Buckinghamshire | South East England |
Bede's Prep School | East Sussex | South East England |
Bede's Senior School | East Sussex | South East England |
Beeston Hall School | Norfolk | East Midlands |
Blundell's | Devon | South West England |
Blundell's Prep | Devon | South West England |
Bosworth Independent College | Northamptonshire | East Midlands |
Brampton College | Barnet | Greater London |
Brampton Manor Academy | Newham | Greater London |
Brentwood School | Essex | East of England |
Brighton College | East Sussex | South East England |
Brighton College Prep Kensington | Kensington | Greater London |
Bromsgrove School | Worcestershire | West Midlands |
Bryanston | Dorset | South West England |
Bryanston Prep | Dorset | South West England |
Canford School | Dorset | South West England |
Cardiff Sixth Form College | Cardiff | Wales |
Casterton, Sedbergh Prep School | Cumbria | North West England |
Charterhouse | Surrey | South East England |
Cheltenham Ladies College | Gloucestershire | South West England |
Chetham’s School of Music | Lancashire | North West England |
Christ College Brecon | Brecon | Wales |
City of London School | Westminster | Greater London |
City of London School for Girls | Westminster | Greater London |
Clayesmore School | Dorset | South West England |
Clifton College | Somerset | South West England |
Cottesmore School | West Sussex | South East England |
Cranbrook School | Kent | South East England |
Cranleigh Preparatory School | Surrey | South East England |
Cranleigh School | Surrey | South East England |
Culford School | Suffolk | East of England |
d’Overbroeck's | Oxfordshire | South East England |
Dallam School | Cumbria | North West England |
Dauntsey's | Wiltshire | South West England |
Dean Close Prep | Gloucestershire | South West England |
Dean Close School | Gloucestershire | South West England |
DLD College London | Westminster | Greater London |
Downe House | Berkshire | South East England |
Dragon School, Oxford | Oxfordshire | South East England |
Dulwich College (UK) | Southwark | Greater London |
Durham School | Durham | North East England |
Earlscliffe | Kent | South East England |
Eaton Square (Senior & Sixth Form) | Westminster | Greater London |
Eaton Square School (Nursery and Prep) | Westminster | Greater London |
Edgbaston College | Warwickshire | West Midlands |
Elstree School | Berkshire | South East England |
Epsom College | Surrey | South East England |
Eton College | Berkshire | South East England |
Exeter Cathedral School | Devon | South West England |
Fairstead House School | Suffolk | East of England |
Farleigh School | Hampshire | South East England |
Fettes College | Edinburgh | Scotland |
Fettes Prep | Edinburgh | Scotland |
Frensham Heights | Surrey | South East England |
Glendower Prep | Kensington | Greater London |
Godolphin and Latymer | Hammersmith & Fulham | Greater London |
Gordonstoun | Moray | Scotland |
Gresham's (Senior School) | Norfolk | East Midlands |
Guildford High School | Surrey | South East England |
Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls | Hertfordshire | East of England |
Hall Grove School | Surrey | South East England |
Hanford School | Dorset | South West England |
Harrow School | Harrow | Greater London |
Highgate School | Camden | Greater London |
Hill House | Kensington | Greater London |
Hills Road Sixth Form College | Cambridgeshire | South East England |
Hockerill Anglo-European College | Hertfordshire | East of England |
Hurstpierpoint College | West Sussex | South East England |
Hurtwood House | Surrey | South East England |
Ibstock Place School | Wandsworth | Greater London |
Kent College, Canterbury (Senior School) | Kent | South East England |
King Edward's Witley | Surrey | South East England |
King Edward’s School, Birmingham | Warwickshire | West Midlands |
King's InterHigh | Westminster | Greater London |
King's School Canterbury | Kent | South East England |
King’s Ely | Cambridgeshire | South East England |
Knightsbridge School | Kensington | Greater London |
Lancing College | West Sussex | South East England |
Latymer Upper School | Hammersmith & Fulham | Greater London |
Leighton Park School | Berkshire | South East England |
Lord Wandsworth College | Hampshire | South East England |
Loretto School | East Lothian | Scotland |
Loughborough High School | Leicestershire | West Midlands |
Malvern College | Worcestershire | West Midlands |
Malvern St James Girls’ School | Worcestershire | West Midlands |
Manchester Grammar School | Lancashire | North West England |
Mander Portman Woodward (Birmingham) | Warwickshire | West Midlands |
Mander Portman Woodward (Cambridge) | Cambridgeshire | South East England |
Mander Portman Woodward (London) | Kensington | Greater London |
Marlborough College | Wiltshire | South West England |
Merchant Taylors' Prep | Hertfordshire | East of England |
Merchant Taylors' School | Hertfordshire | East of England |
Millfield (Senior School) | Somerset | South West England |
Millfield Pre-Prep & Prep School | Somerset | South West England |
Moorland Private School | Lancashire | North West England |
Mount Kelly | Devon | South West England |
North Bridge House (Senior Canonbury) | Barnet | Greater London |
North Bridge House (Senior Hampstead) | Barnet | Greater London |
North Bridge House Prep School | Barnet | Greater London |
North London Collegiate School | Harrow | Greater London |
Norwich School | Norfolk | East Midlands |
Notting Hill & Ealing High School | Kensington | Greater London |
Oakham School | Rutland | East of England |
Oxford International College, Brighton | West Sussex | South East England |
Peter Symonds College | Hampshire | South East England |
Plymouth College | Devon | South West England |
Port Regis School | Dorset | South West England |
Portland Place School | Westminster | Greater London |
Prince's Gardens Prep School | Kensington | Greater London |
Prior’s Field | Surrey | South East England |
Queen's College Preparatory School, London | Marylebone | Greater London |
Queen's College, London | Marylebone | Greater London |
Queen’s College, Taunton | Somerset | South West England |
Radley College | Oxfordshire | South East England |
Reading School | Berkshire | South East England |
Reed's School | Surrey | South East England |
Reigate Grammar School | Surrey | South East England |
Repton School | Derbyshire | East Midlands |
Roedean School | East Sussex | South East England |
Rossall School | Lancashire | North West England |
Royal Grammar School Guildford | Surrey | South East England |
Royal Hospital School | Suffolk | East of England |
Rugby School | Warwickshire | West Midlands |
Ruthin School | Denbighshire | South West England |
Scarborough College | Yorkshire | North East England |
Sedbergh School | Cumbria | North West England |
Sevenoaks School | Kent | South East England |
Sexey's School | Somerset | South West England |
Sherborne International School | Dorset | South West England |
Sherborne School | Dorset | South West England |
Shrewsbury School | Shropshire | South West England |
Sidcot School | Somerset | South West England |
St Albans High School for Girls | Hertfordshire | East of England |
St Catherine's, Bramley | Surrey | South East England |
St Edward's School | Oxfordshire | South East England |
St Joseph’s College | Suffolk | East of England |
St Mary's Calne | Wiltshire | South West England |
St Mary's School, Cambridge | Cambridgeshire | South East England |
St Paul's | Richmond | Greater London |
St Peter's Prep School | Devon | South West England |
St Swithun’s School | Hampshire | South East England |
Stonyhurst College | Lancashire | North West England |
Stowe School | Buckinghamshire | South East England |
Summerhill | Suffolk | East of England |
Taunton International School | Somerset | South West England |
The Abbey (Junior School) | Berkshire | South East England |
The BRIT School | Croydon | Greater London |
The Downs Prep School | Somerset | South West England |
The Hammond School | Cheshire | North East England |
The Kingsley School | Warwickshire | West Midlands |
The Leys School | Cambridgeshire | South East England |
The Perse School | Cambridgeshire | South East England |
The Purcell School | Hertfordshire | East of England |
The Royal Alexandra and Albert School | Surrey | South East England |
The Sylvia Young Theatre School | Westminster | Greater London |
The Worthgate School | Kent | South East England |
Tonbridge School | Kent | South East England |
Tring Park School for the Performing Arts | Hertfordshire | East of England |
Tudor Hall | Oxfordshire | South East England |
Warwick School | Warwickshire | West Midlands |
Wellington College | Berkshire | South East England |
Wells Cathedral School | Somerset | South West England |
Westminster School | Westminster | Greater London |
Westonbirt School | Gloucestershire | South West England |
Wetherby Arts School | Kensington | Greater London |
Winchester College | Hampshire | South East England |
Windermere School (Prep and Junior School) | Cumbria | North West England |
Withington Girls' School | Lancashire | North West England |
Wolverhampton Grammar School | Staffordshire | West Midlands |
Wycliffe Prep School | Gloucestershire | South West England |
Wycliffe Senior School | Gloucestershire | South West England |
Wycombe Abbey | Buckinghamshire | South East England |
Wymondham College | Norfolk | East Midlands |
Yehudi Menuhin School | Surrey | South East England |