Section 4(2) of the Education Reform Act 1988 places a duty on the Secretary of State to establish the National Curriculum by specifying by order appropriate attainment targets, programmes of study and assessment arrangements for each of the foundation subjects.

Section 4(4) allows for such an order, instead of containing the provisions to be made, to refer to provisions in a document published by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.

This Order accordingly refers to such a document. It is entitled “Modern Foreign Languages in the National Curriculum”. That Document sets out the attainment targets and programmes of study which are to have effect for the third and fourth stages of a pupil’s compulsory schooling. The Document sets out 10 levels in respect of attainment targets to cover the full range of abilities and maturities of pupils of compulsory school age; the Order specifies the appropriate range of attainment levels for each key stage. The Document sets out an alternative, shorter programme of study which may be followed by pupils in the fourth key stage.

Article 7 of this Order further secures that any examples printed in italics in the Document are for illustrative purposes only, and do not form part of the Order.