Following the establishment of the 1989 National Curriculum (NC) for science, the Secretary of State for Education and Science made proposals regarding the revision of Attainment Targets (AT) for science. The key ideas included proposal of:
*Five attainment targets
- AT1 - Scientific investigation...

Science for Primary Schools was a series of booklets produced by the Primary Science Committee of the Association for Science Education (ASE) soon after the formation of the ASE from two separate organisations, the SMA and the AWST in 1963. The series of five booklets...

This report from Ofsted focused on the initial teacher training (ITT) in science for primary teachers. The inspection survey took place during the academic year 2000/01. At the time recent inspections of primary initial teacher training (ITT) had focused on training to teach either english or mathematics and also...

This publication takes the form of a discussion paper published by the Department for Education and Science. It presents the views of the Science Committee of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate. These views are organised into the following areas: science and the curriculum; continuity and progress; development of...

Following a major overhaul of the entire National Curriculum at Key Stage Three, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority produced a version for science with a structure consistent with other subjects. There were no changes to the other Key Stages, so the Attainment Targets (AT) and Programme of Study (PoS) for...

This was the first National Curriculum for Science in England and Wales. One intention of the National Curriculum was that all students aged 5 to 16 learn science – that there should be ‘Science for All’ – and that this should include both the ‘methods of science’ and the acquisition of ‘knowledge and understanding...

This revision of the National Curriculum was an attempt to simplify the 1989 version, and to make assessment more manageable.

*The 17 Attainment Targets (AT) were reduced to four – with these divided into ‘strands’.

*Fewer Statements of Attainment: the number was approximately halved by broadening...

This revision of the National Curriculum builds on the 1991 version and follows Sir Ron Dearing’s 1993 review of the whole National Curriculum.

*It retains the four Attainment Targets (AT), each with an associated Programme of Study (PoS), although AT1 becomes ‘Experimental and investigative science’, and...

The National Curriculum for science, published in 1999. Compared with the 1995 version of the National Curriculum, the main changes are:
*There is a statement about the ‘Importance of Science’.
*The ‘Experimental and investigative science’ sections are renamed ‘Scientific enquiry’, with an emphasis on a...

This version of the National Curriculum was written to include only changes to the Key Stage Four Programme of Study (PoS) which would be first assessed in 2006. The Attainment Targets (AT) and PoS for Key Stages One, Two and Three did not change at this time. At Key Stage Four, the following overall changes were...

Published in September 2010, this summary of an online survey focusses on attempting to understand the factors relating to the retention of science teachers.

The full collection of STEM Learning impact and evaluation research reports can be viewed here...

This is a report of a SCORE workshop held in September 2011 at the Royal Society to explore the place of scientific enquiry in the national curriculum. The report summarises the main issues raised and describes the views of the participants. The workshop was chaired by Libby Steele, Head of Education at the Royal...

This collection contains lists of the key scientific vocabulary encountered at primary level, ready to be printed off and used in class. The lists are divided by year group and topic, however could be adapted for use across the primary phase. Many topics include either word mats or loop cards to help children learn...

This resource contains lists of the key vocabulary used in many of the topics studied at primary level. Aimed originally at the five to seven age range, the lists could also be used to support older children learning these topics.

This resource contains lists of vocabulary, loop cards and word mats to help develop an understanding of key scientific words at primary level.

The twelve vocabulary lists cover the topics of: materials and their...