ABSTRACT
Curriculum, then, is a political matter – in the widest sense of the word. Whether one is concerned with all aspects of schooling or just with the curriculum, the word habitually used to describe the form of control in the school system of England and Wales is partnership. This chapter starts with the role of central government in curriculum matters simply because it is that which is uppermost in the debate. For a time in the latter half of the nineteenth century the curriculum of elementary schools was specified in the Revised Code of 1862 and enforced by means of rigorous tests in which the required levels of attainment were set out with great exactness. Governing bodies have had hitherto a somewhat uncertain position within the school system, midway between the political policy makers in local government and the operatives who actually run their schools.
