New curricula: what you need to know

This year, we’ve released brand-new curriculum plans and thousands of new teaching resources designed for your classroom. They've been made by brilliant teachers and quality-checked by subject experts. And there’s more to come!

When we first started making resources, it was to support remote teaching. Now our aim is to reduce your lesson planning workload and improve pupil outcomes by sharing new, high-quality resources on which you can build great curriculum plans and lessons.

Learn more about how we do that from our Head of Curriculum Design, Emma McCrea.

We started with English, history, maths and science for key stages 1-4, plus primary geography. By the end of next year, we’ll have released new plans and resources for all national curriculum subjects.

Why are we making new resources, when 95% of teachers are satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of our resources that already exist?

It’s because they were made during the pandemic for remote teaching. As we've been designing our new resources, we’ve made big improvements to better help you teach in the classroom.

In this blog, we'll explore what you need to know in order to get the most out of them.

• What are we releasing?
• What’s new about the teaching resources?
• When can I start using the resources?
• What if the resources aren’t the right fit for my pupils and context?
• Where can I learn more about a subject curriculum you've released?
• Which exam boards do you align to?
• What if my subject isn’t covered?
• How can I keep up to date with new resource releases?

What are we releasing?

Curriculum plans

Our new interactive plans are for the following subjects:

• English: primary and secondary
• History: primary and secondary
• Maths: primary and secondary
• Science: primary and secondary
• Primary geography
• Secondary music

For KS4 subjects you can choose from different exam boards.

Use them as inspiration for your own planning, or to see where our new teaching resources could be used to update what you’ve already got.

The plans have been built in line with our rigorous curriculum principles. For each subject and phase, we’ve shared the thinking, structure and focus behind the plans to inspire your own approach.

View our new curriculum plans today.

New teaching resources

We're also releasing all-new and improved slide decks, worksheets and quizzes for every unit and lesson in the plans. They’re made by hundreds of experienced teachers and designed first and foremost for the classroom to give you a quick starting point for your planning.

They've been created alongside expert teams composed of our partners, independent subject experts and Oak subject leads. We've been testing them with teachers in classrooms and tweaking them based on feedback, all so you can feel confident in the resources you use.

Find out more about that process.

What’s new about the teaching resources?

As well as being designed specifically for use in the classroom, the resources have been built around the latest evidence on how pupils learn, including SEND best practice. Plus, they’re editable, so you can tailor them to your pupils’ needs.

When can I start using the resources?

Right now! We’re releasing the new resources on a rolling basis, as soon as they’re ready. Thousands have been released already. Search our teaching resources by topic or key stage to see everything that's available now.

By autumn 2024, you’ll have access to everything we’re releasing for these first subjects. More subjects will follow during the 2024/25 academic year.

We’ll also continue to share more information and guidance about how and why we’ve developed the curriculum plans in the way we have.

What if they aren’t the right fit for my pupils?

We can’t plan a curriculum or lesson that is contextualised for your school and pupils, and nor should we try. What we offer is a head start on planning, a solid foundation on which you can build great curricula and lessons.

You can download our resources and edit them as much or as little as you need, from tweaks at lesson level to creating curriculum sequences that are right for your setting. How will Oak look in your school? That’s entirely up to you.

Where can I learn more about a subject curriculum you've released?

Explore our interactive curriculum plans to learn about the thinking, structure and focus behind each plan. Filter to see the year groups that are relevant to you and select ‘threads’ to see how learning builds over time throughout the curriculum. ‘Threads’ are repeated ideas that run through key stages.

• English: primary and secondary
• History: primary and secondary
• Maths: primary and secondary
• Science: primary and secondary
• Primary geography
• Secondary music

For more information about each curriculum, visit our help centre.

Which exam boards do you align to?

At KS4 we’ve initially provided plans that cover the specifications of at least the two most popular exam boards in each subject (as measured by Ofqual data).¹ We hope to increase the range of exam boards across all subjects in the future.

You can select the exam board in our interactive curriculum plans and it will show you the lessons and resources to deliver that specification; all the curriculum plans are identical at KS3, whichever exam board you select.

You won't see this in maths, simply because the exam boards’ specifications are very similar, with our units covering these requirements by aligning closely to the national curriculum KS4 programme of study.

You can also select higher and foundational tier unit options in maths and science.

What if my subject isn’t covered?

We’ve recently announced a new set of curriculum partners who we’ll work with to share plans and resources for the remaining national curriculum subjects. Find out more about our partners and the subjects and phases we’ll be covering.

Send us your questions and feedback

Is there a question we haven’t answered? Feedback you want to share? Please drop us an email at [email protected] and we’ll get back to you.

How can I keep up to date with new resource releases?

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