The Education (National Curriculum) (Exceptions) (Wales) Regulations 1991

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Section 10(3) of the Education Reform Act 1988 imposes on local education authorities, governing bodies and head teachers of schools the duty to teach the subjects comprising the National Curriculum including Welsh for a reasonable time during each of the key stages defined in the Act. This duty is replaced by the provisions of the attainment targets and programmes of study in a subject in the National Curriculum when these come into force by order of the Secretary of State. In respect of Welsh, the attainment targets and programmes of study come into force over a period of time by virtue of the provisions of the Education (National Curriculum) (Attainment Targets and Programmes of Study in Welsh) Order 1990. (S.I. 1990/1082.)

Regulations have already been made (the Education (National Curriculum) (Exceptions) (Wales) Regulations 1990 (S.I. 1990/2187)) which disapply the provisions of section 10(3) of the 1988 Act with regard to the teaching of Welsh in a key stage in a school where Welsh has not been taught to more than half of the total number of pupils in the school in that year in either the school year 1987/88 or the school year 1988/89.

These Regulations disapply both the provisions of section 10(3) regarding the teaching of Welsh and the provisions of the Education (National Curriculum) (Attainment Targets and Programmes of Study in Welsh) Order 1990 in relation to pupils who are admitted to a school in Wales either in the final year of key stage 3 (usually at age 13) or at any time in key stage 4 (usually aged between 14 and 16) (regulation 2(1)). However such pupils are subject to the statutory provisions relating to the teaching of Welsh in the National Curriculum if within 3 years prior to their admission to a school in Wales they have previously studied Welsh in a school curriculum for at least 38 weeks which is the average length of a school year (regulation 2(2)).