A new chapter: Oak’s fully updated classroom curriculum is now live – free for every school and teacher

Oak’s fully updated curriculum, designed for use in the classroom, is now freely available online – complete with curriculum plans and lesson resources for every national curriculum subject and age group from key stage 1-4.

For the first time, schools have access to an open, adaptable, fully resourced model of a national curriculum: a complete, high-quality sequence of teaching that includes slide decks, lesson guides, videos, quizzes, worksheets and more, ready to support brilliant in-person delivery. We also freely share our resources with others via the Open Government Licence to support there being a wide range of high-quality providers for teachers to choose from.

Oak’s resources are there for teachers and schools to use in the way that works best for them – whether that’s drawing on them alongside existing materials and school plans, or choosing to adopt them in full.

And the latest independent evaluation shows just how valuable this support has already become for teachers and school leaders.

Oak now used in nearly 3 in 4 schools – with growing impact

An independent evaluation published this week by ImpactEd reveals that Oak is now used in nearly 18,000 schools across England (72%). Between January and July 2025 alone, almost 200,000 teachers used Oak, with over 54,000 using it every week – a 53% rise on the previous year.

This rising engagement reflects Oak’s increasing role in helping with teacher workload. According to the report:

• 85% of Oak users say it has a positive impact on their workload
• Two thirds (67%) report an overall workload reduction, saving a median four hours per week
• Nearly 1 in 5 (18%) reclaimed time for vital teaching activities such as supporting pupils in class.

ImpactEd also found particularly strong use in schools in high areas of disadvantage, where resource downloads were 36% higher than schools in more affluent areas.

A fully updated curriculum – designed for classroom teaching

Originally created during the pandemic to support remote learning, Oak has evolved significantly. Since 2022, we have worked with schools, subject experts and education organisations to co-design an entirely new offer: teacher-made, quality-assured resources built for high-quality, in-class teaching. We’re hugely grateful to our curriculum partners and subject expert groups, whose insight and expertise have been vital in shaping and refining this new offer.

As of this term, the curriculum is fully available, covering every national curriculum subject from key stage 1-4. It is:

• Free and openly licensed – available under the Open Government Licence
• Comprehensive – with curriculum plans for full programmes of study
• Richly resourced – with adaptable slide decks, lesson guides, videos, quizzes, worksheets
• Built for real classrooms – giving teachers a strong starting point to adapt, personalise and deliver lessons for their pupils with confidence.

The curriculum sequences and lesson materials have been highly rated by teachers, with 4 in 5 praising the quality of curriculum sequences (81%) and lesson materials (80%).

Increasingly adopted across MATs and schools

Oak’s resources are built to fit around each school’s needs and choices, and support teachers’ professional judgement, so schools can adopt, adapt or just use Oak for ideas and inspiration for their own approach.

Many schools and trusts are already embedding the refreshed curriculum to support effective teaching and drive consistency.

Ormiston Academies Trust, who support pupils in 45 schools across secondary, primary, alternative provision and special schools, are working with Oak to strengthen their RE curriculum, and are using Oak science and humanities resources across their primary schools.

Lift Schools, a trust made up of 57 primary, secondary and special schools, are implementing Oak’s modern foreign languages curriculum.

Other MATs are similarly adopting Oak’s materials, for example Blue Kite Academy Trust are beginning to implement Oak’s Maths curriculum resources across almost all of their schools to varying extents and Twyford Church of English Academies Trust are using the Oak’s MFL resources.

As more schools integrate Oak’s curriculum it is increasingly becoming a go-to source of high-quality, consistent and adaptable teaching materials.

Supporting the future national curriculum

Oak has also been asked by the Department for Education to support the roll-out of the revised National Curriculum, following recommendations by Professor Becky Francis. Schools will begin teaching the new curriculum from September 2028.

Oak’s resources – including reimagined materials for reception teachers – will be fully updated to reflect the changes and available well ahead of time, helping schools prepare for a smooth transition.

A public resource for every classroom – and every innovator

All of Oak’s content is available on the Open Government Licence, meaning that any school, publisher or organisation can use it to build and train edtech products, safe in the knowledge that they are accurate, high quality and suitable for classroom use.

Our CEO, John Roberts, summed up this mission: “We’re really proud to be such a widely valued source of support for schools and teachers across the country. The free availability of high-quality curriculum and lesson resources is such a valuable launchpad, both for great teaching and for technical innovations that will propel even greater progress in classrooms. It’s great to see so many benefitting from this crucial public resource.”

Looking ahead

With our newly updated curriculum, fast-growing adoption and strong evidence of impact, we’re stepping into a new phase: supporting great teaching in every classroom, every day.

Whether you’re exploring your curriculum offer, seeking high-quality lesson materials, or looking for ways to reduce pressure on staff workload, Oak’s resources for KS1, KS2, KS3 and KS4 are ready and available – free, open and built for you.