Curriculum for Excellence

Photograph of early years practitioner and young girl looking at each other

Curriculum for Excellence is Scotland’s curriculum for children and young people aged 3 to 18. It replaces A Curriculum Framework for Children 3 to 5 and the 5-14 curriculum.

Curriculum for Excellence builds on the solid foundations developed in the critical years of pre-birth to 3 which is supported by the new National Pre-Birth to Three Guidance.

The early level of Curriculum for Excellence spans pre-school and primary as it is designed to meet the needs of most children from 3 years until the end of Primary 1, thus promoting better continuity and progression of learning across the sectors. Many of the core messages of Curriculum for Excellence will already be familiar to early years practitioners, as they relate to the importance of:

active, experiential learning
a holistic approach to learning
smooth transitions
learning through play.

Support to facilitate the implementation of the new curriculum can be found in Curriculum for Excellence: Supporting the early level.

In the Building the Curriculum series, Building the Curriculum 2 looks at practical ways to introduce a more active approach to learning and teaching in early years.