The school curriculum in England

What is the national curriculum in England?

Maintained schools in England must teach the national curriculum to pupils aged approximately 5 to 16 years old. The national curriculum is divided into four key stages. It includes different subjects at different stages, but maths, sciences, English, physical education and computing are included at all stages.

Academies and free schools don’t currently have to follow the national curriculum. They must, however, offer a broad and balanced curriculum that covers English, maths, sciences and RE. Primary academies and free schools must also take part in national curriculum assessments, commonly referred to as SATs.

Provisions in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently before Parliament, would change the position for academies and free schools, requiring them to teach a revised national curriculum, too.

Other curriculum subjects

In addition to the national curriculum, maintained schools in England must also currently offer:

• Relationships education for pupils of primary age, relationships and sex education (RSE) for pupils of secondary age, and health education for all pupils. These requirements also apply to academies and free schools
• Religious education (RE) for all registered pupils. Content will depend on the type of school and (usually) the locally agreed syllabus. Academies and free schools are also required to offer RE through clauses in their funding agreements

These elements, plus the national curriculum, comprise the statutory curriculum for maintained schools. Additionally, secondary schools must offer impartial careers advice to those in school years 9 to 13.

Curriculum and Assessment Review 2025

The national curriculum was last reviewed under the coalition government in the early 2010s.

In July 2024, the Labour government announced a review of the national curriculum, and assessments, in England. The review was chaired by Professor Becky Francis, Chief Executive of the Education Endowment Foundation.

The curriculum review’s final report was published on 5 November 2025. Its recommendations included:

• The introduction of an oracy framework
• The refreshed curriculum should retain a ‘knowledge-rich’ approach, should be coherent, and should support mastery and depth
• The curriculum should appropriately reflect the diversity of modern society
• Launching a programme of work to provide evidence-led guidance on how to adapt teaching and curriculum content for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

The review also made a large number of subject-specific recommendations.

The government has published its response to the review. It has confirmed a revised national curriculum will be published in 2027, for first teaching in 2028. GCSEs in national curriculum subjects will be revised in line with the review’s recommendations, for first teaching from 2029 onwards.