Using the 7 Principles of Curriculum Design to improve
skills development
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Personalisation and choice
Relevance
Coherence
Challenge and enjoyment
Breadth
Depth
Progression
All of the curriculum design principles contain useful ideas for improving the
development of skills. Some principles such as depth, progression in skills
(see Section 7 of this guide), challenge and relevance are emphasised in
sections of this guide
Key features of each of the design principles are set out in the second table
below. More advice on the principles specific to your stage/setting is
provided on pages30-40 of Building the Curriculum 3.
 Use the key features to discuss how you would use each principle to
improve your own practice in developing skills and what success will
look like for your learners
 Record your key ideas in the blank table below. Try to give specific
examples of existing good practice, what you will change and what the
change will look like for your learners
The 7 Principles of Curriculum Design
Selected Design Principle ________________________
Give examples of this principle in your
current practice.
How could you use this principle to
improve practice in developing skills?
What would this improvement in
practice look like for learners?
The 7 Principles for Curriculum Design
In our setting we can improve the way that we will support skill development for our learners by ………
Personalisation & Choice
Some starters to consider how you could
improve the development of learners’
skills focusing on personalisation and
choice:

Dialogue focused around the skills
learners use in their wider lives

Making reference to learners skills
and interests during day to day
dialogue

Using knowledge of how they learn in
different ways

Dialogue focused on assessing their
understanding and providing
feedback on their next steps and
progress

Listening to learners questions and
ideas

Providing support tailored to their
differing needs
Coherence
Some starters to consider how you
could improve the development of
learners’ skills using coherence:
 Making clear links between the
skills used within and across
curriculum areas and in
interdisciplinary studies

Highlighting the similarities and
differences between different skills
and the use of a skill in different
contexts
 Promoting a shared understanding
of skills and involving learners in
understanding and reflecting on
their own development of skills
Relevance
Some starters to consider how you could
improve the development of learners’
skills in relation to relevance:

Selecting contexts for skills which
relate to the learners’ experience,
needs and interests in and beyond
school

Emphasising skills for learning, life
and work, making connections with
the use of skills in learning, in the
home, in the local community, the
world of work, travel or interests in
leisure, sport or the media.
Challenge & Enjoyment


Challenging our learners to
think hard and develop their
skills to the full
Thinking about what is needed
to take learners to the next
stage in developing and
applying skills
Breadth


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
Progression
Using the full breadth of

skills in the experiences and
outcomes

Making better links with
skills in literacy, numeracy
and heath and wellbeing
Being aware of prior
learning in skills
Moving learners through
challenging activities to
new learning or
consolidating skills by
practice
Giving more emphasis to
skills that are transferable
across curriculum areas

Providing opportunities
for application of skills in
new contexts
Developing secure learning
of subject-specific skills

Encouraging learners to
reflect on their own
learning and how secure
their learning is
Depth

Increasing the depth of
learning of skills by going
beyond acquiring knowledge
to emphasise learners’
understanding

Encouraging learners to show
their understanding in
different ways so that we are
more aware of their
understanding/
misunderstanding

Emphasising the application
of skills in different contexts.