Secondary education

Compulsory secondary education covers all students aged 11-16. In 2007 there were 3,343 maintained secondary schools for 3,268,490 students (DCSF Schools and pupils in England, 2007).

 

Specialist schools

Nearly 90% of state-funded secondary schools are specialist schools; this means that they receive extra funding to develop one or more subjects in which the school specialises. Go to Focus on specialist schools for more information.

 

Academies

Academies are publicly funded, non-selective secondary schools. They have the freedom to implement innovative approaches to management, governance, teaching and curriculum. They are usually established in disadvantaged areas. Go to More on academies for more information.

 

Changes to the secondary curriculum

Changes to the secondary curriculum for those aged 11-16 were published in September 2007. In these changes, new programmes of study were designed for all subjects to give teachers a less prescriptive, more flexible framework for teaching. As a result, the new curriculum includes:

  • an increased focus on whole curriculum design
  • increased flexibility - less prescription but focus on key concepts and processes in subjects
  • more room for personalisation and locally determined curriculum
  • emphasis on skills - functional and wider skills for learning and life (see below)
  • importance placed on personal development
  • more opportunities for coherence and relevance - linking learning to life outside school, making connections between subjects, cross-curricular themes and dimensions.

The new secondary curriculum should enable all young people to become:

  • successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve
  • confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives
  • responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society.

 

Timescale of new curriculum

The new curriculum is being rolled out gradually:
For Key Stage 3:

  • September 2008 - the new curriculum is taught to Year 7 students.
  • September 2009 - the new curriculum is taught to Year 7 and Year 8 students.
  • September 2010 - the new curriculum is taught to Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 students.

For Key Stage 4:

  • September 2009 - the new curriculum is taught to Year 10 and followed through to Year 11 (except for English, mathematics and ICT, which will change in September 2010). This is in line with the revision of GCSEs.

 

Skills

Young people need to develop essential skills and qualities for learning, life and employment if they are to be prepared for the future. These skills relate to learning in subjects as well as other more generic, transferable skills.

Functional skills of English, mathematics and ICT have been built into the new curriculum. Alongside these is a framework for personal, learning and thinking skills (PLTS), which has been embedded in the new programmes of study for the secondary National Curriculum. PLTS will help students become successful, confident individuals who live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives, and responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society.

For more information on functional skills and personal, learning and thinking skills, visit the National Curriculum website.

Employers might find it useful to read about the latest policies - including more information on functional skills.

 

Cross-curricular dimensions

Cross-curricular dimensions (which are part of the new curriculum) unify areas of learning so that young people can make sense of the world; they give education relevance and authenticity, and provide a focus for work within and between subjects as well as across the curriculum as a whole.

Cross-cultural dimensions include:

  • Identity and cultural diversity
  • Healthy lifestyles
  • Community participation
  • Enterprise
  • Global dimension and sustainable development
  • Technology and the media
  • Creativity and critical thinking

 

Using the cross-curricular dimensions

Individual dimensions are often interdependent and mutually supportive. For example, there are links between creativity and critical thinking and technology and the media.

Although dimensions are not a statutory part of the National Curriculum, schools find them useful in designing and planning their wider curriculum.

Schools can build cross-curricular dimensions into their curriculum in many different ways:

  • Teaching the dimensions through subjects, making links across subjects where there are common issues/areas of learning.
  • Specifically timetabled thematic days, activity weeks or events that focus on a particular dimension.
  • Activities that are integrated into the routines of the school, such as running a mini enterprise or arranging a fundraising event.
  • Educational visits or out-of-hours learning opportunities.
  • Using experts from outside the school to stimulate discussion and debate in assemblies or with specific groups of learners.

Employers may find that their services are of use to schools wishing to build more cross-curricular dimensions.

 

Secondary subjects

Find out about the subjects offered for secondary school students.

At Key Stage 3, the statutory (core) subjects that all students must study are:

  • Art and design
  • Citizenship
  • Design and technology (D&T)
  • English
  • Geography
  • History
  • Information and communication technology (ICT)
  • Mathematics
  • Modern foreign languages
  • Music
  • Physical education (PE)
  • Science

Also statutory are careers education, sex education and religious education1.

Non-statutory (foundation) subjects for Key Stage 3 are:

  • Economic wellbeing and financial capability
  • Personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE)
  • Personal wellbeing

At Key Stage 4, the statutory (core) subjects that all students must study are:

  • Citizenship
  • English
  • Information and communication technology (ICT)
  • Mathematics
  • Physical education (PE)
  • Science

Also statutory are careers education, sex education, religious education1 and work-related learning (see below).

 

Work-related learning at Key Stage 4

In September 2004 it became a statutory requirement that all young people should experience some work-related learning at Key Stage 4.

Work-related learning is defined as: planned activity that uses the context of work to develop knowledge, skills and understanding useful in work, including learning through the experience of work, learning about work and working practices, and learning the skills for work.

 

Benefits of work-related learning

Through work-related learning, students learn:

  • about the diversity and function of business
  • enterprise and employability skills
  • about the relevance of their work in school or college to the world of work (the connection between learning and earning - a strong motivator for many)
  • about the day-to-day expectations of employees and about work practices, environments, rights and responsibilities
  • about the range of progression and career opportunities available and the qualifications, skills and attributes required
  • career management skills.

 

School provision of work-related learning

Schools must make a provision for all Key Stage 4 students to:

  • learn through work, by providing opportunities for students to learn from direct experiences of work (for example, through work experience or part-time jobs, enterprise activities in schools and learning through vocational contexts in subjects)
  • learn about work, by providing opportunities for students to develop knowledge and understanding of work and enterprise (for example, through vocational courses and careers education)
  • learn for work by developing skills for enterprise and employability (for example, through problem-solving activities, work situations and mock interviews).

Schools can provide work-related learning opportunities in a number of ways. It is for each school to develop its own methods of providing work-related learning opportunities. Below is a list of the methods that many schools currently use to incorporate work-related learning into the curriculum:

  • Diplomas
  • GCSEs, especially GCSEs in vocational subjects, and other vocational courses
  • Courses delivered by training providers and colleges
  • Extended work-related learning programmes involving employers
  • Careers education and guidance
  • Personal, social and health education (PSHE)
  • Citizenship education
  • Specially timetabled events such as industry days or conferences
  • Extra-curricular activities such as business mentoring or study support
  • Work-related activities such as work experience and mini enterprises

For more information on work-related learning, download the Work-related Learning Guide (PDF) from the DCSF.

 

 

1Under the Education Act 1996, schools must provide religious education for all registered students, although parents can choose to withdraw their children.

FURTHER INFO