Five key insights from our 24/25 Impact Report

Oak’s mission is to improve pupil outcomes and close the disadvantage gap by supporting teachers to teach and enabling pupils to access a high-quality curriculum. To assess our progress toward our mission, we have commissioned an independent evaluation each year since 2020.

This past academic year was particularly eventful. In partnership with various organisations with expertise in curriculum development, we released nearly 4,000 new lessons across 10 subjects, bringing the total to 10,941 lessons, which is almost 80% of all planned new lessons. These resources are available on Open Government Licence (OGL), meaning that any school, publisher or organisation can draw on Oak’s underlying materials to build and train edtech

Additionally, we introduced Aila, an AI-powered lesson assistant that guides teachers through a step-by-step process to create customised lesson plans and accompanying resources. As a result, we were excited to learn about the impact of these new developments on teachers, pupils, and the broader education sector.

The complete 70-page report, rich in statistics, stories, and insights, can be downloaded from the link at the end of this blog. This blog post summarises the five key takeaways.

#1 More teachers are using our improved lessons

This year, we have witnessed a significant increase in the number of teachers using Oak's teaching resources. Between January and July 2025, 196,143 teachers used these resources, representing a 135% increase from the previous year. Teachers downloaded lesson and curriculum resources 1.63 million times, while pupils took part in 4.2 million lessons, using Oak for remote learning, homework or revision. In accordance with our mission, we have observed that the most disadvantaged schools had over 36% more downloads per school than those in the least disadvantaged areas.

While teachers still had access to some of the legacy lessons from the pandemic, 84% of downloads came from the newly released lesson resources. The improved quality of our new resources is reflected in teachers’ ratings: 80% of users rated the quality of our teaching materials as very high or high, an increase from 63% last year.

#2 Helping with curriculum redesign

One of Oak's greatest strengths is that its high-quality resources are expertly organised into curriculum schemes for all key stages and subjects, covering the entire national curriculum in England. As most schools have an existing curriculum that they review regularly and adjust as needed, teachers most commonly (39%) reported swapping or adding specific topics from Oak to enhance their existing curricula. In some instances, Oak enabled a more substantial change: 13% of schools modified their curriculum sequencing, while 9% adopted Oak as their main curriculum.

Teachers noticed these improvements in our curriculum provision, with 60% of them rating the Oak curriculum's structure and sequencing as high or very high last year, a number that increased to 81% this year. Additionally, 53% of teachers agreed that using Oak’s resources boosted their confidence in curriculum design.

#3 Even more tailor-made resources with AI

Aila, our AI-powered lesson assistant, has also experienced significant adoption since its launch in September. By September 2025, 42,610 users have downloaded 191,765 lesson resources, co-created with Aila. Qualitative feedback indicates that users appreciated its pedagogy-first design, particularly its prompts for addressing misconceptions and lesson sequencing. Many reported that the tool was efficient and helpful for generating resources and fostering creativity in lesson design.

As with any relatively new technology, there has been some healthy scepticism as well. Some teachers mentioned the need for clear guidance on how to use AI effectively in schools, while others expressed concerns about overreliance on technology.

#4 Workload and wellbeing

We asked users if they believed Oak had a positive impact on their workload, and 85% agreed. 67% stated that using Oak resources reduced their workload, with an estimated time savings of 4 hours per week on average. An additional 18% of users reported that, although the product did not reduce their overall workload, it allowed them to reinvest the time saved into other activities.

Additionally, users scored higher on their wellbeing, with an average score of 45.5 compared to 42.2, as measured by the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. Consequently, users are also more likely to remain in the teaching profession; only 8% of users plan to leave teaching within the next two years, compared to 23% of non-users.

In qualitative interviews, most teachers mentioned that they use the resources as a foundation, adapting them to better meet their students' needs. While this approach still requires considerable time for lesson planning, it can significantly reduce the time needed, particularly for teachers who would otherwise have to start from scratch or spend excessive time searching for resources online.

#5 Supporting new teachers and non-specialists

Overall, having access to exemplar lesson resources as a starting point seemed to benefit the majority of users by improving the quality of their lessons. 63% of users agreed that Oak’s curriculum and resources improved their lesson planning. Over three-quarters (78%) of users reported that they found a model or idea in an Oak lesson that they applied in their own teaching.

Interviews and focus groups conducted as part of the evaluation revealed a common theme: the most significant improvements in time-saving and lesson quality were experienced by early-career teachers (ECTs), trainees, and non-specialists. Early-career staff, who have not yet developed an extensive resource bank, particularly appreciated the fully resourced, sequenced lessons. They found the clear structure of these lessons valuable, as it served as an effective model for structuring lessons from the starter activity to the plenary.

Non-specialists valued the fact that Oak’s resources are factually accurate and created by experts, which gave them the confidence to teach subjects outside their usual area of expertise. They found the structured videos and lesson materials helpful for teaching content that extended beyond their specialism.

Finally, we would like to thank our evaluation partner, ImpactEd Evaluation, for conducting this year's evaluation with high quality and professionalism. We also appreciate all the participating teachers and schools who took the time to share their feedback. We are committed to continuously evaluating our impact, so stay tuned for updates in a year's time!