Curricula
National curriculum in England: science programmes of study — key stages 1 and 2
The statutory programmes of study for science in the national curriculum in England, published by the Department for Education, as they apply to key stages 1 and 2 (years 1–6, primary). The source publication states: "These programmes of study are issued by law; you must follow them unless there’s a good reason not to" and "These programmes of study apply to all schools maintained by the local authority in England" (publication landing page). Per the national curriculum collection page, "The majority of this national curriculum was introduced in September 2014"; the September 2016/2017 in-force dates on the science landing page are the exception it describes for key stage 4 (years 10 and 11).
Published by: Department for Education
First published: 11 September 2013 (gov.uk: 2013-09-11)
Last updated: 6 May 2015 (gov.uk: 2015-05-06 — "Updated the section on light, in the year 3 programme of study")
Source verified: 2026-09-05 via the gov.uk Content API (see tools/gov-uk)
The same publication also contains the science programmes of study for key stages 3 and 4 (the KS4 programme was added on 2 December 2014, per the page's change history). Those are not reproduced in this folder — only key stages 1 and 2 are in scope here.
Scope
- Binding on local-authority-maintained schools in England: "All local-authority-maintained schools in England must teach these programmes of study" (national curriculum collection); "These programmes of study apply to all schools maintained by the local authority in England" (science landing page).
- Academies and private schools are not bound: "Other types of school, like academies and private schools, do not have to follow the national curriculum. Academies must teach a broad and balanced curriculum including English, maths and science" (The national curriculum guide, Overview).
- Phases covered by this folder: key stage 1 — ages 5 to 7, years 1 and 2; key stage 2 — ages 7 to 11, years 3 to 6 (The national curriculum guide, Overview — key stages tables). Science is a compulsory national curriculum subject at primary school (guide, Key stages 1 and 2).
- Non-statutory content is labelled: "Schools are not required by law to teach the content indicated as being ‘non-statutory’" (science landing page). The documents below reproduce both the statutory requirements and the "Notes and guidance (non-statutory)" blocks, labelled as in the source.
Contents
| Document | Covers |
|---|---|
| SCIENCE-KS1.md | Key stage 1 (years 1 and 2): KS1 introduction, working scientifically, year 1 and year 2 programmes of study |
| SCIENCE-LOWER-KS2.md | Lower key stage 2 (years 3 and 4): introduction, working scientifically, year 3 and year 4 programmes of study |
| SCIENCE-UPPER-KS2.md | Upper key stage 2 (years 5 and 6): introduction, working scientifically, year 5 and year 6 programmes of study |
Key requirements at a glance
- "Working scientifically" must be taught in every phase "through and clearly related to the teaching of substantive science content in the programme of study" (SCIENCE-KS1.md#ks1-intro).
- Year 1 topics: plants; animals, including humans; everyday materials; seasonal changes (SCIENCE-KS1.md#year-1-programme-of-study).
- Year 2 topics: living things and their habitats; plants; animals, including humans; uses of everyday materials (SCIENCE-KS1.md#year-2-programme-of-study).
- Year 3 topics: plants; animals, including humans; rocks; light; forces and magnets (SCIENCE-LOWER-KS2.md#year-3-programme-of-study).
- Year 4 topics: living things and their habitats; animals, including humans; states of matter; sound; electricity (SCIENCE-LOWER-KS2.md#year-4-programme-of-study).
- Year 5 topics: living things and their habitats; animals, including humans; properties and changes of materials; earth and space; forces (SCIENCE-UPPER-KS2.md#year-5-programme-of-study).
- Year 6 topics: living things and their habitats; animals including humans; evolution and inheritance; light; electricity (SCIENCE-UPPER-KS2.md#year-6-programme-of-study).
- Pupils' spoken and written scientific vocabulary develops by phase: read and spell at KS1; "read and spell scientific vocabulary correctly and with confidence" at lower KS2; "read, spell and pronounce scientific vocabulary correctly" at upper KS2 (SCIENCE-KS1.md#ks1-intro, SCIENCE-LOWER-KS2.md#lks2-intro, SCIENCE-UPPER-KS2.md#uks2-intro).
Oversight
- Owner/publisher: the Department for Education publishes and revises the programmes of study (the publication is issued "From: Department for Education" — landing page; change history there records the 2014 KS4 addition and the 2015 year 3 light update). No fixed revision cadence is stated.
- Inspection: "Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. We inspect services providing education and skills for learners of all ages" (Ofsted, gov.uk).
Related
- None yet — this is the repository's first curriculum instrument. Natural future companions: the other national curriculum subjects for England, the KS3/KS4 science programmes of study, and the devolved UK curricula (Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) as separate instruments under
gb/.
Sources
- National curriculum in England: science programmes of study — publication landing page
- National curriculum in England: science programmes of study — HTML publication (full text)
- National curriculum — collection page (statutory scope and in-force dates)
- The national curriculum guide (key stages, ages and year groups; academies)
- National curriculum in England: framework for key stages 1 to 4 (statutory basis: "Maintained schools in England are legally required to follow the statutory national curriculum", §2.4)
- Ofsted
Meta
Built and re-verified mechanically from the gov.uk Content API — see tools/gov-uk: python3 tools/gov-uk/extract.py regenerates the three programme-of-study documents and checks anchor uniqueness. Do not hand-edit the programme-of-study text.