Urban schooling and the National Curriculum

The 1988 Education Reform Act requires every maintained school in England and Wales to provide for all pupils aged 5–16 years with a basic curriculum that includes a National Curriculum, comprising three core and seven foundation subjects, and provision for the teaching of religious education. While there are a number of good reasons to support the principle of a National Curriculum, the Thatcher government's version of what such a curriculum should look like is disassociated from any attempt to define systematically what kind of general, universal education is of most value in a rapidly changing world. As such, it is likely to fail the majority of children, and particularly those attending inner-city schools.