National Curriculum

The National Curriculum for England sets out a clear, full and statutory entitlement to learning for all pupils up to the age of 16. It determines the content of what will be taught and sets attainment targets for learning.

It also determines how performance will be assessed and reported. While this is not in any way statutory in countries other than the UK, the quality of the curriculum and the learning experiences make this a curriculum that is valued and respected worldwide.

The National Curriculum of England is regularly reviewed to ensure that it continues to meet the changing needs of pupils and. This year the revision principally reflects changes made to the Key Stage 4 curriculum.

These changes enable schools to offer pupils greater choice, while ensuring they acquire the core of general learning and experience essential to later learning and employment.

At Key Stage 4, young people should see how their studies will lead to further education and employment and be helped to develop competence in skills such as analysis, problem solving, reasoning and communication.

For each subject and for each key stage, programmes of study set out what pupils should be taught, and attainment targets set out the expected standards of pupils' performance.

It is for schools to choose how they organise their school curriculum to include the programmes of study.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
The key skill of information technology includes the ability to use a range of information sources and ICT tools to find, analyse, interpret, evaluate and present information for a range of purposes.

Within the national curriculum for England, ICT is at the centre of learning, in both subjects and individual pupil's skills and competencies as a user.

Qualifications

The National Curriculum offers courses leading to the following qualifications:

Careers education

All schools in England must provide a programme of careers' education for pupils during years seven and eleven, and an appropriate range of careers information.

Schools are encouraged to provide careers education for those in the sixth form. Careers' education contributes to the school curriculum by helping pupils manage progression in their learning and work as they move through school and beyond.

It helps pupils to choose and prepare for opportunities, responsibilities and experiences in education, training and employment.

Work-related learning

In England there is a statutory requirement that schools include work-related learning within this curriculum for all students.

At Key Stage 4 students are given opportunities to:

This three-strand approach highlights that it is not skills and knowledge that are unique to work-related learning, but the context in which they are developed. Direct experience of the world of work should be at the heart of work-related provision.

Finally, the National Curriculum enables pupils to improve their own learning and performance by critically evaluating their work and what they have learnt, and identifying ways to improve.

They are encouraged to identify the purposes of learning, to reflect on the processes of learning, to assess progress in learning, to identify obstacles or problems in learning and to plan ways to improve learning.

Thinking skills are developed to ensure pupils can focus on ‘knowing how' as well as ‘knowing what' - to learn.

The writer is director of education, International Studies for GEMS in the UAE