Matching the Curriculum to the Need

The Education Reform Act 1988 defined for the first time a National Curriculum that would serve everyone at school. Hailed as an ‘entitlement’, it smacked of what is now known as a ‘one size fits all’ approach, introducing inflexibilities that have since been recognized as unhelpful. Besides, it was too crowded. Sir Ron Dearing was brought in to ease the requirements and this process has continued (for example, students in Years 10 and 11 may currently be disapplied from having to study science).

It is increasingly realized that different individuals and categories of learners have different needs, as regards not only curriculum content but also mode of delivery, depending on their preferred ...