This article covers the teaching and learning of pupils in full-time compulsory secondary education ages 11–16 (Key Stages 3 and 4).

Curriculum, subjects, number of hours 

The school curriculum comprises all learning and other experiences that each school plans for its pupils, reflecting its particular needs and circumstances.

The legal basis for the (2007) Northern Ireland Curriculum is The Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2006. Section 4 of this Order specifies that pupils of compulsory school age in grant-aided schools are entitled to a curriculum which:

• is balanced and broadly based
• promotes the spiritual, emotional, moral, cultural, intellectual and physical development of pupils at the school and of society  
• prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life by equipping them with appropriate knowledge, understanding and skills.   

The Northern Ireland Curriculum includes the overarching curriculum aim of empowering ‘young people to develop their potential and to make informed and responsible choices and decisions throughout their lives’ (see pages 3 and 4).

This aim underpins the accountability framework that applies to all grant-aided post-primary schools and influences their decision making. The accountability framework includes:

• the school inspection system
• the publication, annually, of national performance in the public examinations taken on completion of compulsory secondary education (Year 12, age 16)
• the publication, annually, in the prospectus of each school, of information about the school’s curriculum and performance, including achievement data related to assessment at the end of Key Stage 3 (Year 10, age 14) and to public examination performance. 

Historical note: Broad aims for the school curriculum were first established by the Education Act (Northern Ireland) 1947, but there was no government control over the curriculum until The Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 introduced the Northern Ireland Curriculum. This legislation included the aim of giving all pupils an entitlement to a balanced and broadly based curriculum, and set standards for pupil attainment to support school accountability.

Responsibilities 

Responsibility for the school curriculum is shared.

The Department of Education (DE) has overall responsibility for the curriculum. Under The Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, the DE determines the minimum content of the areas of learning to be taught at each key stage. It sets this out as the ‘knowledge, understanding and skills relevant to each of the contributory elements’ within an area of learning. Under Section 81 of the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1998, the DE also approves all qualifications taken by young people under 19 years of age, including GCSEs taken at age 16. It steers post-primary school decision making on the curriculum through the ‘Entitlement Framework’ for pupils aged 14-19, and through performance and accountability measures, which require schools to set targets for performance and to report against these.

The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) oversees the curriculum, examinations and assessment. It advises the DE on the curriculum to be taught and the external qualifications to be offered in grant-aided schools. It is a non-departmental public body which reports to the DE.

Awarding organisations, or AOs, provide approved qualifications to pupils of compulsory school age in Northern Ireland, once the AO has been recognised by the CCEA.

The Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) is responsible for school inspection. The quality of the post-primary curriculum – including breadth, balance and appropriateness – contributes to the school inspection judgement on the quality of provision. The Education and Libraries Northern Ireland Order 1986 forms the legal basis of the ETI’s work.

The Education Authority (EA) is responsible for ensuring that efficient and effective education services are available to meet children and young people’s needs. It also provides curriculum advice and support to schools. Established under the Education Act (Northern Ireland) 2014, it replaced the five former Education and Library Boards and is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department of Education.

The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS), established under The Education Reform Northern Ireland Order 1989, is the advocate for Catholic-maintained schools in Northern Ireland. It contributes to curriculum policy and works with the three other main Christian churches (Church of Ireland, Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church), and the DE, in defining the curriculum for religious education.

Schools are responsible for planning and delivering the whole school curriculum for their pupils and for ensuring that it meets statutory requirements. Responsibility is shared between the board of governors and the principal (headteacher). Individual teachers are also responsible for planning lessons that meet statutory requirements.

Requirements 

The school curriculum comprises all learning and other experiences that each school plans for its pupils, reflecting its particular needs and circumstances.

English is the language of instruction in most post-primary schools in Northern Ireland. Of 196 grant-aided post-primary schools in 2018/19, two are Irish-medium schools and there are three Irish-medium units attached to English-medium post-primary schools. Source: Annual Enrolments at Schools and in Pre-school Education in Northern Ireland 2018/19.

Under The Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, grant-aided schools must offer pupils in compulsory secondary education (ages 11-16) a curriculum which includes:

• the Northern Ireland Curriculum
• religious education
• drugs education
• relationships and sexuality education. 

Northern Ireland Curriculum 

The Northern Ireland Curriculum sets out the statutory minimum requirements for areas of learning and their compulsory subject strands at each key stage in grant-aided schools. This is required by The Education (Curriculum Minimum Content) Order 2007. It also sets out the skills and capabilities that students are expected to develop across all areas of the curriculum, in line with The Education (Other Skills) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007.

In compulsory secondary education, the Northern Ireland Curriculum is specified in terms of:

• an overarching curriculum aim
• curriculum objectives
• areas of learning and subject strands (contributory subjects)
• cross-curricular skills
• thinking skills and personal capabilities
• learning experiences which students must be given opportunities to access
• attitudes and dispositions which learners must be given the opportunity to develop. 

It also includes assessment requirements and encourages the use of  formative assessment through ‘Assessment for Learning’ strategies.

At the end of compulsory secondary education (age 16), the main means of assessing attainment in the Northern Ireland Curriculum is through external qualifications, such as GCSEs.

The Northern Ireland Curriculum does not aim to be the whole curriculum for schools and does not prescribe teaching hours. Requirements vary by key stage as described below.

Northern Ireland Curriculum at Key Stage 3 

At Key Stage 3 (age 11 to 14), the Northern Ireland Curriculum includes areas of learning, cross-curricular skills, and thinking skills and personal capabilities.

There are eight areas of learning: 

• language and literacy (including the contributory subject strands of English, or Irish in Irish-medium schools, and media education)
• mathematics and numeracy (mathematics and financial capability)
• modern languages (any official language of the European Union other than English and, in Irish-medium schools, Irish)
• the arts (art and design, music, drama) 
• environment and society (history, geography)
• physical education
• science and technology (science, technology and design)
• learning for life and work (comprising employability, local and global citizenship, personal development, and home economics).   

The three cross-curricular skills are: 

• communication
• using mathematics
• using ICT.  

The thinking skills and personal capabilities are: 

• managing information
• thinking, problem-solving and decision-making
• being creative
• working with others 
• self-management. 

The cross-curricular skills and thinking skills and personal capabilities are embedded in each stage. Pupils should have opportunities to acquire, develop and demonstrate these skills in all areas of the curriculum. Teachers can teach skills-specific knowledge and techniques discretely in subject specialist classes such as English or mathematics. In other curriculum contexts, there is increased emphasis on transferring, applying and using skills effectively to enhance learning.

Further information on the Key Stage 3 curriculum is available from the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA).

Northern Ireland Curriculum at Key Stage 4 

The statutory Northern Ireland Curriculum at Key Stage 4 (age 14 to 16) includes:

• learning for life and work (comprising the contributory elements of employability, local and global citizenship, and personal development)
• physical education
• the cross-curricular skills of communication, using mathematics, and using ICT
• the thinking skills and personal capabilities of self-management, working with others, and problem-solving. 

Entitlement Framework for 14- to 19-year-olds

While there are fewer compulsory Northern Ireland Curriculum subjects in Key Stage 4, under the Entitlement Framework all pupils in this key stage must have access to a minimum number of courses. These must offer them choice and flexibility; be economically relevant and individually engaging; offer clear progression pathways; and provide pupils with a broad and balanced curriculum which will enable them to reach their potential, irrespective of where they live or the school they attend.

Under the Entitlement Framework Directions, since September 2017, all grant-aided post-primary schools have been required to offer students in Key Stage 4 (aged 14-16) access to a minimum of 21 courses. At least a third of these courses must be general (academic) and a further third applied (vocational / linked to employability). In addition, schools must ensure that :

• at least one course is provided in each area of learning (language and literacy; mathematics and numeracy; the arts; environment and society; science and technology)
• at least one course is provided in an official language of the European Union (other than English and, in Irish speaking schools, Irish). 

As few schools are able to deliver the full offer themselves, schools and further education colleges collaborate as members of an ‘Area Learning Community’ (ALC) to deliver the range of courses. The Department of Education (DE) provides funding to facilitate this.

The curriculum at Key Stage 4 is also driven by external qualifications. The approved qualification most commonly taken, at the end of the key stage (Year 12, age 16), is the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), available in a range of single subjects. Results from these examinations are not only important for pupil progression to post-compulsory education, training or the workforce, they also provide the basis for evaluating post-primary school performance.

Note: The Entitlement Framework became statutory from September 2013 under The Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2006. From 2015/16, schools had to provide access to a minimum of 24 courses at Key Stage 4. This was reduced to 21 courses from September 2017 to provide an element of flexibility and to enable schools to manage their resources better in the challenging economic climate. The Department of Education maintains its expectation that schools which are able to offer more than the specified number of courses will continue to do so.

Further information is available from the following sources:

• the Key Stage 4 section of the CCEA website
• DE Circular 2018/06 on delivery of the Entitlement Framework.

Religious education and collective worship 

All grant-aided post-primary schools must teach religious education (RE) and must also provide a daily act of collective worship, which typically means a school assembly of a reverential or reflective nature.

Schools must provide RE according to a core syllabus drawn up with the agreement of the four main churches: the Catholic Church, Church of Ireland, Methodist Church and Presbyterian Church. This provides a common core, which schools are free to build upon in a way that suits the needs of their pupils and the ethos of the school. The core syllabus is mostly Christian in nature, but also includes morality education and other world religions. Statutory requirements regarding the core syllabus are set out under Section 11 of The Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 and under The Education (Core Syllabus for Religious Education) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007.

Parents have the right to withdraw their children from all or part of RE and / or collective worship. This is under Section 21 of The Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986. In following statutory requirements and publishing information about the RE provided, schools must also publish the arrangements for parents to exercise their right to withdraw their children from RE and / or collective worship. This is required under Schedule 3 of the Education (School Information and Prospectuses) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003.

The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment provides non-statutory guidance to support the implementation of RE at Key Stage 3 (ages 11-14).

Drugs education 

During compulsory education (ages 4 to 16), all schools have a legal duty to provide drugs education in the curriculum. In post-primary schools, it is part of the personal development strand of the ‘learning for life and work’ area of learning. It is also a statutory requirement for every grant-aided school to have in place a drugs education policy and to publicise this in its prospectus.

Department of Education (DE) Circular 2015/23 sets out requirements for schools for the teaching of drugs education, and on handling drug-related incidents on school premises. The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) has also produced detailed guidance (revised in 2015) to help schools to create a meaningful policy for drugs education.

Relationships and sexuality education 

The Department of Education (DE) requires all schools to teach relationships and sexuality education (RSE) and to develop their own policy on how they will address RSE within the curriculum. This policy should reflect the school’s ethos, be subject to consultation with parents and pupils, and be endorsed by the board of governors.

In post-primary education, RSE is a statutory component of the ‘learning for life and work’ area of learning. Schools also have the flexibility to teach RSE through other areas of learning. The CCEA has produced guidance which includes a framework for the development of schools’ RSE policies. The Department of Education website provides further information on RSE.

Time allocation 

The amount of time to be devoted to each subject in any key stage cannot be prescribed. This is determined under Section 10 of The Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2006. Consequently, organisation of the school timetable and the allocation of hours to subjects are decided by the school.

There is, however, a minimum requirement of at least three periods of religious education each week at Key Stage 3 (ages 11 to 14) and two periods per week at Key Stage 4 (ages 14 to 16). This is set out in The Secondary Schools (Grant Conditions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1973. The length of periods varies across schools but, as a guide, a period is estimated as lasting 35 minutes.

For specific qualifications taken at the end of compulsory secondary education (age 16), such as GCSEs, awarding organisations estimate the size of a qualification in terms of total qualification time (TQT). This is the notional amount of time that could reasonably be required in order for a learner to achieve a qualification. The part of that time spent being taught is expressed as guided learning hours (GLH). For a typical GCSE qualification, the number of guided learning hours would not be less than 120 hours.

Teaching methods and materials 

Teaching methods and learning materials are not officially prescribed but are decided by teachers and schools.

Individual teachers are responsible for planning lessons that meet statutory requirements; setting appropriate learning objectives / outcomes; and planning lessons that enable all pupils to meet learning objectives.

Although most teaching at secondary level is organised and delivered within subject boundaries, all teachers have a responsibility for developing the cross-curricular skills of communication, using mathematics, and using ICT, and for developing the thinking skills and personal capabilities of the Northern Ireland Curriculum. They are expected to embed the teaching of these cross-curricular skills and skills and capabilities within subject experiences.

There are no prescribed textbooks for pupils; all teaching and learning materials are selected by schools.

Textbooks are produced by commercial publishers and do not require government approval. However, schools will generally only choose to use textbooks which pay attention to the requirements of the Northern Ireland Curriculum or, for pupils in Key Stage 4 (age 14-16), to the qualification specifications set by awarding organisations.

Grant-aided schools may not charge for the cost of materials, books, instruments or any other equipment used by pupils.

All schools have a range of ICT tools available for use by teachers and pupils. These may include computers / laptops; tablets and other handheld devices; digital and video cameras; interactive whiteboards; and virtual learning environments.

Schools and teachers make decisions about teaching methods and materials in the context of national standards and guidance as outlined below.

Frameworks and guidance 

Teachers are expected to demonstrate 27 Professional Competences (pages 13-15 of Teaching: The Reflective Profession, 2011) organised within three broad areas:

• professional values and practice
• professional knowledge and understanding
• professional skills and application.

The Professional Competences also require teachers to have a knowledge and understanding of a range of behaviour management strategies. This is to enable them to:

• establish an effective learning environment
• promote a standard of behaviour that enables all pupils to learn
• pre-empt and deal with inappropriate behaviour in line with schools’ policies and what is known about best practice.

Schools decide how much and how often homework is set, reflecting the school's circumstances and its pupils' needs.

Although it is not a statutory requirement for schools to give homework, the Professional Competences set an expectation that teachers should plan for out-of-school learning and activities that ‘consolidate, build on, enrich, personalise and extend pupils’ learning’ (p.33).

Although teaching methods and learning materials are not prescribed, the CCEA provides guidance, resources and support materials for teaching the Northern Ireland Curriculum.

Article last reviewed April 2021.