Curriculum

(asked on 10th December 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will issue updated guidance on disapplication of the national curriculum.


Answered by
Robin Walker Portrait
Robin Walker
This question was answered on 15th December 2021

The department recognises that teaching a broad and balanced curriculum is important to the academic, social, and personal development of children and young people. All schools should continue to teach a broad and balanced curriculum in all subjects.

In response to education catch-up, taking the planned, sequenced curriculum as a starting point, schools should prioritise teaching missed content that will allow pupils to make sense of later work in the curriculum. This includes key knowledge, skills, vocabulary, concepts, and the links between concepts. For schools that are required to follow it, these are outlined in the national curriculum.

Schools can use existing flexibilities to create time to cover the most important content in which pupils are not yet secure. Further information can be found in the non-statutory guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-a-broad-and-balanced-curriculum-for-education-recovery.

Up to and including key stage 3, prioritisation within subjects of the most important components for progression is likely to be more effective than removing subjects. This avoids depriving pupils of the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.

In exceptional circumstances, and where a subject is not one mandated, schools may consider it appropriate to suspend some subjects for some pupils. When this happens, schools are expected to be able to show that this is in the best interests of these pupils, and this should be in discussion with parents. Further guidance on disapplying aspects of the national curriculum can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disapplying-aspects-of-the-national-curriculum.

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