Demystifying UK Primary Education

Getting to grips with the UK education system and how best to support your children to be successful depends on which part of the UK you live in. While all teaching must comply with UK Government standards, the way each education authority approaches this guidance varies.

To fully support your child’s learning, a good place to start is to understand how your own education authority plans for effective learning and to become familiar with the terms used in each area. See below how England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have approached Primary and Secondary Education.

Scotland

Scotland’s education policy is called the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) and was introduced in 2019. The CfE is split into two areas:

Broad General Education – Early years to the end of 3rd year (S3). This area is further split into 8 curriculum areas from Maths and English to Expressive Arts. Read more here.
Senior Phase – 4th year and beyond (S4 to S6). 16,17 and 18 years olds are included in the Senior Phase which builds on their achievements up to S3. Read more here.

England

The framework used in England is called the National Curriculum and is also split into two main areas of education, Early Years (ages 3-5), followed by Key Stages. There are 4 Key Stages which covers 5 year olds up to 16 year olds. For more detail on Key Stages, which year of school they apply to, and the content of each, please click the button below.

Ireland

Ireland’s Curriculum is split into 5 areas.

Early Childhood Curriculum Framework
Primary curriculum
Junior-cycle
Transition year (TY)
Senior-cycl

Wales

The framework used in Wales is under review from 2022 onwards and is being released in stages. The Curriculum very closely matches England’s curriculum.