The National Curriculum for England and the Course of Study in Japan

The National Curriculum in England (NC) is studied in comparison with the Course of Study (CS) in Japan. The relations between the core, non-core fundamental, and other subjects are reviewed. The school systems and the time allocation policy for subjects appearing in a guidebook published from QCA are compared with those in CS. Several advantages of NC such as the teaching requirement for the use of ICT and language across the curriculum, conscious emphasizes on communication between pupils and learning activities, and well-organized relationships between materials of various subjects in the same key-stages are pointed out. These policies could be transferred effectively to Japan to reform the present CS, whose policies stress-free