2  Curriculum for Excellence Levels

Curriculum for Excellence is designed to provide a coherent, flexible and enriched curriculum for children and young people aged from 3 to 18. The curriculum includes the totality of experiences which are planned for children and young people through their education, wherever they are being educated.

Curriculum for Excellence defines five levels of learning. The first four levels in the Broad General Education (BGE) phase are described in Experiences and Outcomes – a set of statements about children’s learning and progression in each curriculum area which are used to help plan learning and to assess progress. Progression to qualifications is described under a fifth level, the Senior Phase.

The path most children and young people are expected to follow through the levels reflects the stages of maturation of children and young people and the changing ways in which they engage with learning as they develop.

Some children and young people will start learning at these levels earlier and others later, depending upon individual needs and aptitudes. The framework is, however, designed to be flexible in order to permit careful planning for those with additional support needs, including those who, for example, have a learning difficulty or those who are particularly high attaining. The diagram below shows the five curriculum levels.

The publication focuses on the BGE phase which covers children from pre-school through to the end of S3. It is intended that all children should have opportunities to experience all of the Experiences and Outcomes up to and including the Third Level where appropriate for individual learning needs. Most learners will progress into the Fourth Level in many aspects of their learning before the end of S3. For S3 pupils the statistical publication reports on both Third Level or better and Fourth Level although focuses more on Third Level or better.

Scottish Government statistics on the attainment of young people in the senior phase are based on point of leaving; these statistics can be found in the School education statistics.