This study has been prompted by a concern that the term intercultural understanding (IU) has appeared in English curriculum policy texts in order to address macro issues with scant pedagogical attention to its effective implementation at the micro level in the modern foreign languages (MFL) classroom. The article investigates pupils' perceptions about the development of IU in the English Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9) MFL curriculum. It is based on the premise that if we are to develop appropriate intercultural languages pedagogy for this age group (i.e. 11-14), it is vital that we explore and discover the perceptions and experiences of the targeted learners. We present the empirical findings from a questionnaire-based survey ("N"= 765) and group interviews ("N"= 5) with Year 9 pupils in different types of state schools (single sex and mixed comprehensive and single sex grammar) in the north west of England. By applying and extending Barrett's SSCM model (2007) we demonstrate how factors such as school type, gender, social background and linguistic capability of the pupils may affect the meaning or level of importance that pupils attach to IU. In light of these findings, we argue that a one-size fits all IU curriculum prescribed from top down is unlikely to be effective in achieving its aims.