Model Music Curriculum: A Year-by-Year Guide
The Model Music Curriculum (MMC) is non-statutory guidance from the Department for Education, published in March 2021, that sets out a year-by-year music curriculum for Years 1 to 9 (Key Stages 1 to 3) in England. It covers singing, listening, composing and performing, suggests at least one hour of music a week at Key Stages 1 and 2, and names pieces to listen to.
Written for UK readers. This version uses UK music words (bar, crotchet, stave) and UK year groups; the US version uses measure, quarter note, staff and US grades. · US 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).
- 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. Ofsted inspects the quality of a school’s music curriculum, not whether it follows the MMC word for word.
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.
| 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 stave and clef in Year 3; builds up note values to semiquavers 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 KS2 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 pupils 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.
Will the Model Music Curriculum change in 2028?
The government plans a revised national curriculum, including music, to be first taught from September 2028, after the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report on 5 November 2025. Until then, the 2013 programmes of study are statutory and the Model Music Curriculum remains the government’s non-statutory guide.
The review kept music as a statutory subject from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 3 and recommended updating the programmes of study. Check the Department for Education’s pages for the final revised curriculum and any updated guidance before planning beyond summer 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 scheme of work 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 stave 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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