The national curriculum
Key stage 3 and 4
Key stage 3
Compulsory national curriculum subjects are:
- English
- maths
- science
- history
- geography
- modern foreign languages
- design and technology
- art and design
- music
- physical education
- citizenship
- computing
Schools must also provide:
- relationships, sex and health education - you may choose to take your child out of some of these lessons
- religious education (RE) - you may choose to take your child out of these lessons
Key stage 4
During key stage 4 most pupils work towards national qualifications - usually GCSEs.
The compulsory national curriculum subjects are the ‘core’ and ‘foundation’ subjects.
Core subjects are:
- English
- maths
- science
Foundation subjects are:
- computing
- physical education
- citizenship
Schools must also offer at least one subject from each of these areas:
- arts
- design and technology
- humanities
- modern foreign languages
They must also provide relationships, sex and health education, and religious education (RE) at key stage 4. You may choose to take your child out of some of these lessons.
English Baccalaureate (EBacc)
The EBacc is a way to measure how many pupils in a school choose to take a GCSE in these core subjects:
- English language and literature
- maths
- the sciences
- history or geography
- a language
Find out more about the EBacc.