England plans to make academies follow the national curriculum – but it’s been getting more prescriptive for years

By Dominic Wyse, Professor of Early Childhood and Primary Education, UCL

A national curriculum sets out what state school pupils should be taught during their time at school. But in England, the national curriculum currently applies to only around 44% of children – those in schools run by their local authority.

The remaining children, including 81.7% of secondary school pupils, are at academies. These schools, the result of a policy to address disadvantage in education, are free to set their own curriculum. Independent,…

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