Editing Curriculum (section)

====England and Wales====
{{main|National Curriculum for England|National Curriculum for Wales (2008 to 2026)}}
The [[National Curriculum for England|National Curriculum]] was introduced into [[National Curriculum for England|England]], [[National Curriculum for Wales (2008 to 2026)|Wales]] and [[Northern Ireland Curriculum|Northern Ireland]] as a nationwide curriculum for primary and secondary [[public education|state]] schools following the [[Education Reform Act 1988]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum|title=National curriculum|website=GOV.UK|date=2 December 2014 }}</ref> It does not apply to [[Private schools in the United Kingdom|private school]]s, which may set their own curricula, but it ensures that state schools of all [[local education authority|local education authorities]] have a common curriculum. [[Academy (English school)|Academy schools]] have a significant degree of autonomy in deviating from the National Curriculum.

Every state school must offer a curriculum which is balanced and broadly based and which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. For each of the statutory curriculum subjects, the [[Secretary of State for Education]] is required to set out a Programme of Study which outlines the content and matters which must be taught in those subjects at relevant Key Stages.<ref name="EAct2002">{{cite web |last=National Archives |date=1 April 2018 |title=Education Act 2002 Part 6 |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/32/part/6 |access-date=14 October 2020 |publisher=H M Government}}   [[File:UKOpenGovernmentLicence.svg|30x30px]] Text was copied from this source, which is available under an [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ Open Government Licence v3.0]. © Crown copyright.</ref>  Teachers should set high expectations for every pupil. They should plan stretching work for pupils whose attainment is significantly above the expected standard. Teachers should use appropriate assessment to set targets which are deliberately ambitious.