4.—(1) Subject to paragraph (4) the local curriculum for every maintained secondary school in local authority area A for the school year 2010 to 2011 and every subsequent school year must include a minimum of 30 courses of study at NQF level 2, of which at least 5 must be vocational.
(2) Subject to paragraph (4) the local curriculum for every maintained secondary school in local authority area B must include—
(a)for the school year 2010 to 2011 a minimum of 28 courses of study at NQF level 2, of which at least 4 must be vocational; and
(b)for every subsequent school year a minimum of 30 courses of study at NQF level 2, of which at least 5 must be vocational.
(3) Subject to paragraph (4) the local curriculum for every maintained secondary school in local authority area C must include—
(a)for the school year 2010 to 2011 a minimum of 26 courses of study at NQF level 2, of which at least 4 must be vocational;
(b)for the school year 2011 to 2012 a minimum of 28 courses of study at NQF level 2, of which at least 4 must be vocational; and
(c)for every subsequent school year a minimum of 30 courses of study at NQF level 2, of which at least 5 must be vocational.
(4) A local authority may include a course of study at NQF level 1 instead of a course at NQF level 2 in the local curriculum for a maintained secondary school in its area if the same course is not available at NQF level 2 for pupils in the fourth key stage.
(5) The minimum number of vocational courses of study required by paragraphs (1), (2) and (3) must fall within at least 3 of the learning domains.