Statutory guidance

National curriculum in England: science programmes of study

The statutory programmes of study and attainment targets for science at key stages 1 to 4.

Applies to England

Documents

Details

These programmes of study are issued by law; you must follow them unless there’s a good reason not to.

These programmes of study apply to all schools maintained by the local authority in England. They came into force in September 2016 for pupils up to and including year 10. For pupils in year 11, they come into force from September 2017.

Schools are not required by law to teach the content indicated as being ‘non-statutory’.

Short films of teachers and subject experts talking about the national curriculum and how to use it are also available.

Updates to this page

Published 11 September 2013
Last updated 6 May 2015 + show all updates
  1. Updated the section on light, in the year 3 programme of study, within the document and HTML information.

  2. Added science programme of study for key stage 4.

  3. First published.

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