They also embrace many of the principles underpinning the 2014 National Curriculum, applying them to pupils for whom the p-levels (as a feature of the pre-2014 National Curriculum) were initially developed.

The recommendation that the pre-key stage standards are extended, to include a wider range of learners, is a promising one. There are a significant number of learners whose attainment would fall below the existing interim pre-key stage standards who are also able to engage in subject-specific learning with the National Curriculum Programmes of Study. It is imperative however that any extension of the pre-key stage standards avoids rewriting the p-levels but represents something distinct from them, which is simplified, summative and meaningful.

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