Q:
Would ‘broad and balanced curriculum’ in section F mean my son has access to the full curriculum
We have EOTIS Section F states for tutoring included teaching in core education curriculum. He would be in year 7, my concern here is that it’s limited to maths, English and science. He is pda and we have already identified learning needs to be around his interests the one thing he has always continued to access is computing (working towards the curriculum) and cooking. I put in a PB request for computing but “not reasonable required under section F” I will be appealing but I’m just wondering what core curriculum needs to be reworded to so he has access to the full curriculum. Additional where the EP recommendations that were tailored to my son included the use of examples, the LA have stated these are examples so cooking is mentioned twice under learning provision and again under sensory but it won’t be included as “not reasonably required under section F”
A: SenseCheck
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- 21 Mar 2025
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Yes
Simple
I’m writing this in the knowledge that other parents who have similar questions might read this Q&A. Therefore, the answer also covers basics that others might need.
What is a core education curriculum
It’s one that covers core subjects. Core subjects are English, maths and science.
For completeness, in some church schools, they also treat RE as a core subject, but I’m not sure if that is backed up with any law – they just call it a core subject because it takes up more lesson time than others. It’s highly unlikely that RE would be considered a core subject as part of an EOTAS package.
What are non-core subjects
Non-core subjects are usually referred to as foundation subjects. Foundation subjects in Year 7 – Year 9, include history, geography, art, PE etc. Computing is also a foundation subject.
Besides foundation subjects, the other common non-core subjects are RSHE (relationships, sex and health education) and RE (notwithstanding the church school point above). As they’re treated very similarly to foundation subjects, schools sometimes refer to RSHE and RE as foundation subjects simply for ease of communication.
Finally, there are some subjects that fall outside of the Department for Education list. For example, in a special school they might teach gardening or life skills. Again, for simplicity, special schools might refer to these as foundation subjects.
Access to the full curriculum
Typically, access to a full curriculum would be at least 7 subjects.
Access to a broad and balanced curriculum
Typically, this would mean a curriculum that has a range of subjects that are a mix of core subjects as well as arts, humanities and RSHE. And, it wouldn’t be over focused on one area (e.g. it would not be 15 hours per week on arts, 9 on core subjects and 1 on humanities).
There is not much difference between a full curriculum and broad and balanced curriculum. However, the latter could be narrower. It often depends on the severity of a child's SEND.
What do you want the package to look like?
It sounds like, in the case raised, the LA are providing what’s written in section F (i.e. core curriculum subjects).
However, start with the child. What can they reasonably manage? If you get a broad and balanced curriculum written into Section F, then your child is very likely to need to deal with quite a few tutors.
In Y7, some tutors might be able to cover more than one subject. As pupils move towards GCSE, that becomes less likely.
The tutoring work you are offering isn’t lucrative. Whilst the tutor might get a decent hourly rate and it’s often incredibly rewarding working 1:1, it’s one hour in the day that stops tutors taking on other work (such as a full day or week of supply). The pot of people who have the skills and are currently looking for this work is not large. Therefore, finding tutors for all the subjects is a significant task, and replacing them if they take other work might be disruptive to your child.
If a child can only manage a couple of hours a day, a full broad and balanced curriculum may be difficult to achieve.
How many subjects do you want? A full curriculum? A broad and balanced one? Or a narrower one?
As for what you do then, it depends on the presentation of the PDA. If it’s obvious that he’s not going to cope with 6, 7 or 8 different tutors coming each week, then spending energy on getting a full curriculum or broad and balanced curriculum may be counter-productive.
If he would cope with more, then you would need to make further efforts to reflect that in Section F.
Cooking
Context of the EP comments will probably be relevant. For example, if they are recommending that is a good vehicle for learning, it would be a case of their maths tutor, for example, using baking to help them develop their understanding of measurements.
If the EP comments lean towards cooking being a curriculum subject (it falls under design technology), then you may have a stronger case getting that reflected in Section F.
Aaron King
9000 Lives SEND Consultancy
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