Abstract
In September of last year, students in England who were due to move from GCSE to Advanced level study began Curriculum 2000. These developments in post-16 education can be placed in an international context in that they represent a response to more general cross-national trends. This paper will seek to outline some of them

At the same time however, it will also argue that the more detailed nature of the reforms is the product of specific national, cultural and historical influences and that in seeking a new ‘settlement,’ national state institutions continue to organise late secondary/post compulsory education in different ways.

The aim of the paper is to assess not only how these dimensions interact in Curriculum 2000 but also to examine the contradictions they generate and to emphasise the need for practitioners to develop progressive alternatives. It draws on findings from my own research, material produced by others, but also my experiences of working in a large inner London sixth form in the period up to and during the implementation of these changes.