With the increasing demands of key stage 4 and recent Ofsted criticism of provision in years 7, 8 and 9, Suanne O’Farrell looks at how schools can best use key stage 3 to support students’ achievement and their wider learning

With GCSE reform at the forefront of our minds, this is a good time to reflect on the role of the key stage 3 curriculum in preparing pupils for the transition to these new courses.

We know that the second phase of reformed GCSEs being introduced from September will mean more content, more assessment, more extended writing and more mathematics.

This means thinking about key stage 3 not only in terms of the key concepts we want our pupils to master, but also developing the skills, such as stamina and resilience, to prepare them for an unprecedented amount of exams in year 11.

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