Curriculum requirements: maintained schools
If your school is reviewing or updating its curriculum, find out what it needs to cover to stay compliant with requirements and meet DfE expectations.
Contents
All maintained schools must follow the National Curriculum.
Key Stage 3 (KS3) requirements
Pupils in KS3 are expected to learn these core and foundation subjects (click the links to see the programmes of study):
Core subjects
Foundation subjects
- Art and design
- Citizenship
- Computing (there's also DfE guidance on teaching online safety within this and other subjects)
- Design and technology
- Modern foreign languages
- Geography
- History
- Music
- Physical education (PE)
Key Stage 4 (KS4) requirements
Pupils in KS4 are expected to learn the core subjects listed above, along with:
The rest of the curriculum is broken into 4 entitlement areas which are not compulsory after the age of 14. However, all pupils have a statutory entitlement to be able to study a subject in each area.
The areas are:
Your school needs to provide access to at least 1 course in each of the areas, and give pupils the
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- Cultural capital: what it is and how to monitor it
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- Curriculum jargon buster
- Curriculum monitoring: role of the local governing body
- Curriculum reports: how to get the information you need
- Curriculum requirements: special schools
- Governors' role in monitoring PE
- Governors’ role in monitoring relationships and sex education (RSE)
- Governors' role in monitoring the curriculum
- How to monitor the promotion of British values in your school Updated
- Relationships and sex education: handling complaints from parents
- School trips and educational visits: governors' role