§ Mr. Tom ArnoldTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the rate of implementation of the national curriculum.
§ Mrs. RumboldThe full national curriculum will be implemented as soon as practicable to raise standards of education as quickly as possible. Implementation is proceeding in phases to make it manageable for schools. To ease pressure on secondary schools, my right hon. Friend recently announced that the requirement to teach 14 to 16-year-olds the foundation subjects outside the core subjects of maths, science and English would be introduced no earlier than autumn 1993.