England’s Model Music Curriculum, Explained
England’s Model Music Curriculum (MMC) is non-statutory guidance from the Department for Education, published in March 2021, setting out what children aged 5 to 14 (Years 1 to 9) should learn in music each year. It covers singing, listening, composing and performing, with named pieces to hear. The nearest US equivalent is the 2014 National Core Arts Standards for music.
A UK subject, explained for US readers. This version uses US music words (measure, quarter note, staff) and US grades; the UK version uses bar, crotchet, stave and UK year groups. · UK version of this page
Key facts
- Published by the Department for Education in March 2021 as non-statutory guidance for the national curriculum in England.
- Covers Years 1 to 9: Key Stage 1 (Years 1–2), Key Stage 2 (Years 3–6) and Key Stage 3 (Years 7–9), roughly US grades 1 to 9.
- Time: at least one hour a week at Key Stages 1 and 2 (it can be split into shorter sessions), and at least one weekly period all through Key Stage 3.
- Headings: Singing, Listening, Composing and Musicianship in Years 1–2; Singing, Listening, Composing and Performing in Years 3–6 and Key Stage 3.
- Listening lists in three groups: Western Classical Tradition and Film, Popular Music, and Musical Traditions.
- Written by an expert team led by ABRSM, with a panel chaired by Veronica Wadley.
What is the Model Music Curriculum?
The Model Music Curriculum is a year-by-year guide to teaching music in England from Year 1 to Year 9, published by the Department for Education in March 2021. It shows one way to meet the statutory national curriculum for music, with progression in singing, listening, composing, performing and reading notation, and named pieces for each year.
It was written to give schools a clear, sequenced starting point, especially primary schools without a music specialist. It works alongside the National Plan for Music Education and local music hubs, which support singing, instrumental lessons and ensembles.
Is the Model Music Curriculum statutory?
No. The Model Music Curriculum is non-statutory guidance: schools do not have to follow it. The statutory requirement in maintained schools is the national curriculum for music at Key Stages 1 to 3; the MMC is one practical way to meet it.
Academies and free schools do not have to follow the national curriculum, but must teach a broad and balanced curriculum, and many use the MMC as a guide. In US terms, the MMC is like a detailed model curriculum written to meet a set of state standards, rather than the standards themselves.
Model Music Curriculum year by year
Each year group has its own section in the MMC. The table picks out one point from each strand; words in quotation marks are the MMC’s own. UK terms are kept: a crotchet is a quarter note, a quaver an eighth note, a minim a half note, a semibreve a whole note, and the stave is the staff.
| Year | Singing | Musicianship, notation and playing | Composing and improvising |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | Songs within “a very small range, mi-so” | “Walk, move or clap a steady beat with others” | “Improvise simple vocal chants, using question and answer phrases.” |
| Year 2 | Songs with “a pitch range of do-so with increasing vocal control” | “stick notation including crotchets, quavers and crotchets rests” | “Create music in response to a non-musical stimulus (e.g. a storm, a car race, or a rocket launch).” |
| Year 3 | Songs within “a pitch range of do–so” | “Introduce the stave, lines and spaces, and clef.” | Become more skilled in improvising “using voices, tuned and untuned percussion” |
| Year 4 | Songs “with the range of an octave (do–do)” | “Introduce and understand the differences between minims, crotchets, paired quavers and rests.” | “Improvise on a limited range of pitches on the instrument they are now learning”; compose pentatonic phrases |
| Year 5 | “Sing three-part rounds, partner songs, and songs with a verse and a chorus.” | “Understand the differences between 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 time signatures” | “Improvise freely over a drone, developing sense of shape and character” |
| Year 6 | “Continue to sing three- and four-part rounds” | “Further understand the differences between semibreves, minims, crotchets, quavers and semiquavers” | “Create music with multiple sections that include repetition and contrast.” |
| Year 7 | “Sing regularly from an extended repertoire with a sense of ensemble and performance.” | Keyboard: “Learn to find notes on the keyboards.” | “Compose chord sequences on the keyboard or guitar in C major or A minor using mainly primary chords.” |
| Year 8 | The same aim as Year 7, with an extended repertoire | Keyboard melodies “following staff notation written on one stave or two staves” | “Compose chord sequences on the keyboard or guitar in C major, G major, A minor or E minor.” |
| Year 9 | The same aim, with a sense of ensemble and performance | Blues project: “12 Bar Blues, Swung Rhythm, Improvisation, Walking Bass, Comping” | “Compose contrasting chord sequences to create pieces in either ternary or verse/chorus form.” |
What does the Model Music Curriculum say for KS2?
At Key Stage 2 (Years 3–6), the Model Music Curriculum moves from singing within do–so to an octave and then three- and four-part rounds; introduces the staff and clef in Year 3; builds up note values to sixteenth notes by Year 6; adds 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 time; and develops improvising and composing, from pentatonic phrases to pieces with several sections.
Key Stage 2 also usually includes whole-class instrumental teaching, for example a term or a year learning recorder, ukulele, glockenspiel or a string instrument. Classfern’s elementary music curriculum page has a year-by-year map and full lesson plans linked to these years.
Model Music Curriculum listening list tracker
The MMC names pieces for children to listen to each year. These are 29 examples from the Key Stage 1 and 2 lists (not the full list – see the MMC itself). Tick each piece when your class has listened to it. Self-assessed – the teacher keeps the record; ticks are saved only on this device.
Model Music Curriculum quiz
Eight questions on what the MMC says, new every time. Marked by Classfern – the answers are checked in your browser.
Is there a US equivalent of the Model Music Curriculum?
The nearest US equivalent is the National Core Arts Standards for music (2014), which many states use as the basis for their own standards. They are organized around creating, performing, responding and connecting, with 11 anchor standards, rather than year-by-year lesson content like the MMC.
US schools usually turn their state standards into a district curriculum of units and lessons – which is what the MMC does for England. England is also planning a revised national curriculum, to be first taught from September 2028.
How to use the Model Music Curriculum in your planning
- Map your year against the MMC year group, unit by unit (Classfern’s curriculum map and unit plan builder follows the same order of skills).
- Sing every lesson. Singing comes first in every MMC year.
- Build notation step by step: stick notation in Year 2, the staff in Year 3, more note values each year.
- Use the listening lists as short starters, tracked with the list above.
- Plan each lesson on the music lesson plan template, with its curriculum link.
Classfern’s free Model Music Curriculum guide on lessonplanner.info is an independent summary. Classfern is not connected with or endorsed by the Department for Education or ABRSM; always check the full Model Music Curriculum published on gov.uk.
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