Paul Black obituary

My former colleague Paul Black, who has died aged 95, was an educationist known for playing a big part in developing the national curriculum for England, which was introduced in 1989 for primary and secondary schools.

As chair of the Task Group on Assessment and Testing, set up by the Conservative government, Paul convinced the then education secretary Kenneth Baker to adopt a set of compulsory subjects that would be assessed mainly by teachers, with external moderation, with expected attainment levels at the end of key stages. Once the system had been agreed, he became deputy chair of the National Curriculum Council from 1989 to 1991.

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