ABSTRACT

The National Curriculum is a monument to central planning and control. This much is agreed by both those who advocate it and those who decry it. Since the collapse of most communist education systems there has been no other attempt to prescribe exactly what children should learn, and when, and no such battery of tests to regulate the outcome. The argument that bolsters the National Curriculum is that it gives all pupils a broad and balanced curriculum, with due attention to key skills and knowledge. The impact of the national curriculum might be clear on those who are in successful schools but they might be even more fundamental on those pupils who are less successful. The rate of truancy and the number of exclusions are rising inexorably, and parents, especially those not normally given a voice, are concerned about this.