Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of state schools which teach the national curriculum.

Maintained schools in England are legally required to follow the National Curriculum up to age 16, but academies, including free schools, are not. The department does not hold data on the proportion of academies currently following the National Curriculum, but knows that many choose to teach it.

As part of the legislative programme announced in the King’s Speech, the department intends to legislate to require academies to teach the National Curriculum, once changes are made following the Curriculum and Assessment Review. This will give parents certainty over their children’s education, and it will give academies time to prepare. The department will discuss with the sector the practicalities of implementing this change.

The review will recommend a core curriculum that is designed to empower, not restrict, academies and other schools. It will support the innovation and professionalism of teachers, whether in academies or maintained schools, and will enable them to adapt how they teach the curriculum to their students’ lives and life experiences.