K-12 learning 🇬🇧 Manchester, United Kingdom Since 2020

Oak National Academy

Free curriculum resources and lessons for teachers in England.

Visit thenational.academy All companies
of schools in England use Oak, according to Oak
72%
lessons with over 100,000 resources
13,500
subjects from key stage 1 to 4
20
DfE grant-in-aid in 2024-25
£22.0M

About Oak National Academy

Oak National Academy is a public body in England that publishes free curriculum plans and lesson resources for schools. The Department for Education sponsors it and pays for all of its work through grant-in-aid, £22.0 million in 2024-25. Oak covers 20 subjects from key stage 1 to key stage 4, with slide decks, worksheets and quizzes for about 13,500 lessons. Teachers also get Aila, a free AI lesson assistant, and pupils get a free area for revision and homework. Oak says its resources are used in 72% of schools in England.

Oak National Academy gives teachers in England free, optional curriculum plans and lesson resources. Each lesson comes with a slide deck, a worksheet, a starter quiz and an exit quiz. Teachers can download and edit them. Pupils from Year 1 to Year 11 use the same lessons for homework, revision and remote learning.

Oak started in April 2020, when schools closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with backing from the Department for Education. Matt Hood, a co-founder, led it from the start. On 1 September 2022 Oak National Academy Limited took over the work from the Reach Foundation and became an executive non-departmental public body of the DfE. The Secretary of State for Education is the only person with significant control of the company.

The DfE funds all of Oak’s spending. Oak buys curriculum packages from partners in the education sector, chosen in an open process. In 2024-25 it spent £12.5 million on them. New content is published under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and companies can import it through a free API. In September 2024 Oak launched Aila, an AI lesson assistant. John Roberts has been interim chief executive since April 2025.

History

  1. 2020 The DfE backs Oak, announced on 19 April. It delivers two million lessons in its first week.
  2. 2020 In June the government announces £4.3 million for Oak lessons in the 2020/21 school year.
  3. 2022 Oak National Academy Limited is incorporated in England on 15 June.
  4. 2022 On 1 September Oak becomes a non-departmental public body and takes over the trade from the Reach Foundation.
  5. 2022 Ministers set aside up to £43 million for Oak over three years.
  6. 2024 In May the DfE appoints Matt Hood as permanent chief executive.
  7. 2024 In September Oak launches Aila, an AI lesson assistant for teachers.
  8. 2025 Oak completes its first cycle of curriculum packages, including English, maths and science. DfE grant-in-aid for 2024-25 reaches £22.0 million.
  9. 2025 Matt Hood steps down at the end of March. John Roberts becomes interim chief executive on 1 April.
  10. 2025 The DfE publishes an independent review of Oak and a market impact assessment in September.
  11. 2026 Applications for a new chair close on 27 March.

Oak National Academy funding and investors

£22.0 million DfE grant-in-aid, 2024-25
  1. June 2020
    Government funding £4.3 million

    Department for Education

    Source: Wikipedia, citing Schools Week
  2. September 2022
    Three-year budget, up to £43 million

    Department for Education

    Source: Schools Week
  3. 2023-24
    Grant-in-aid £14.1 million

    Department for Education

    Source: Oak annual report 2024-25
  4. 2024-25
    Grant-in-aid £22.0 million

    Department for Education

    Source: Oak annual report 2024-25

Oak is a public body. It raises no investment and has no shareholders. All of its spending comes from DfE grant-in-aid. In 2024-25 Oak spent £12.5 million on curriculum packages bought from the education sector and £2.9 million on its platform and tools.

Leadership

  • John Roberts Interim Chief Executive, earlier founding director of product and engineering
  • Sir Ian Bauckham CBE Chair of the board
  • Emma Beatty Operations Director
  • Tom Rose Education Director
  • Hannah-Beth Clark Product Director

Matt Hood OBE, co-founder and founding chief executive, stood down at the end of March 2025. The independent review of 2025 said Sir Ian Bauckham was also moving on, and the government ran a recruitment for a new chair that closed on 27 March 2026. Oak’s team page still lists him as chair on 8 October 2026.

Careers

Applied job board
3 open roles on 8 October 2026
  • Press and public affairs1
  • Partnerships1
  • Product1

Perks

  • 36-hour week over 4.5 days
  • 11% employer pension contribution
  • 25 days of annual leave, rising to 28
  • Fully remote, with termly in-person meetings

How an Oak lesson is built

lessons
13,500
subjects
20
plus early years
KS1–KS4
  • Sequenced curriculum plans
  • Editable slide decks
  • Worksheets
  • Starter and exit quizzes
  • Full unit downloads
  • Video and audio clips after sign-in
  • My library for saved units
  • Exam board versions at KS4
  • Aila AI lesson assistant
  • Google Classroom add-on in beta
Oak says its users save an average of four hours a week and that 92% of users expect to stay in teaching for the next two years, against 77% of non-users. The figures come from teacher surveys in Oak’s 2024/25 impact report.
Oak impact page, checked on 8 October 2026

Subjects

Early years (EYFS)5

  • Expressive arts and design
  • Literacy
  • Maths
  • Personal, social and emotional development
  • Understanding the world

Primary (KS1–KS2)18

  • Art and design
  • Computing
  • Cooking and nutrition
  • Design and technology
  • English
  • French
  • Geography
  • History
  • Maths
  • Music
  • Physical education
  • Religious education
  • RSHE (PSHE)
  • Science
  • Spanish
  • Digital literacy
  • Financial education
  • Rule of law

Secondary (KS3–KS4)23

  • Art and design
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics
  • Combined science
  • Citizenship
  • Computing
  • Computer Science (GCSE)
  • Cooking and nutrition
  • Design and technology
  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Spanish
  • Geography
  • History
  • Maths
  • Music
  • Physical education
  • Religious education
  • RSHE (PSHE)
  • Digital literacy
  • Financial education

Subjects as listed on thenational.academy on 8 October 2026. At key stage 4 many subjects follow AQA, Edexcel, Eduqas or OCR specifications, and maths has Foundation and Higher tiers.

Products

  • Lesson resources Each lesson has an editable slide deck, a worksheet, a prior knowledge starter quiz and an assessment exit quiz. Downloads ask for a school name, the email is optional. What you can download
  • Curriculum plans Sequenced plans for 20 subjects from key stage 1 to key stage 4, written with curriculum partners chosen in an open process. Oak’s curricula
  • Aila An AI lesson assistant in beta. It drafts lesson plans, slide decks, starter and exit quizzes, glossaries and comprehension tasks. Teachers sign in, users must be over 18, and it does not support phones yet. Aila FAQs
  • Pupil area Pupils in Years 1 to 11 pick a year and a subject to learn or revise. At key stage 4 they choose an exam board for 14 subjects and a tier for maths. Open the pupil area
  • Curriculum API A free API with units, lessons, quiz questions, misconceptions and lesson assets for key stages 1 to 4, under the Open Government Licence. Developers request a key with a form. API docs

How much is Oak National Academy?

  • Teaching resources £0/mo Free, curriculum plans, slides, worksheets, quizzes
  • Pupil area £0/mo Free, Years 1 to 11, no payment
  • Aila £0/mo Free, sign-in, users over 18
  • Curriculum API £0/mo Free, API key on request, OGL v3.0

Is Oak National Academy free?

Everything is free. A free account is needed to view some copyrighted content, video and audio clips, and to use Aila. Some licensed content is open only to users in the UK. Aila has usage limits when use looks unusually high.

Checked on thenational.academy, the Oak help centre and the API docs on 8 October 2026. Oak is funded by the Department for Education through grant-in-aid. There are no paid plans, tiers or in-app purchases.

For developers and EdTech companies

API docs
  • 01Lesson content published after 1 September 2022 is under the Open Government Licence v3.0, which requires credit to Oak.
  • 02Content from before September 2022 has a limited licence for non-commercial use in teaching.
  • 03The Curriculum API returns units, lessons, quiz questions, misconceptions and lesson assets.
  • 04Oak asks API users for access to usage data to measure the reach of its content.
  • 05Oak’s code sits in public repositories on GitHub.

The API is free. A key is requested through a form on the API site.

Is Oak National Academy worth it?

What teachers like

What teachers criticise

  • Many teachers still see Oak as a pandemic service and do not know how the offer has changed.Independent review, September 2025
  • Some licensed video, audio and copyrighted content opens only after sign-in and only for users in the UK.Oak help centre
  • Aila is in beta, needs a laptop or desktop and is open only to users over 18.Aila FAQs and terms
  • A 2025 government survey found 11% of primary and 13% of secondary teachers used Oak.Wikipedia

What Oak’s surveys, the government review and teacher surveys say, not our rating. Usage figures differ between sources. Oak is free for every school.

Latest news

  1. Oak National Academy: independent review and market impact assessment
  2. Oak National Academy annual report and accounts 2024 to 2025
  3. Oak confirms permanent chief executive, Schools Week
  4. Ministers set aside £43m for Oak National Academy, Schools Week

Contacts and company data

Legal entity
Oak National Academy Limited, 1 Scott Place, 2 Hardman Street, Manchester M3 3AA, United Kingdom
Company number
14174888, England and Wales
Incorporated
15 June 2022
Company type
Private company limited by guarantee without share capital
Public status
Executive non-departmental public body of the DfE since 1 September 2022
Control
Secretary of State for Education, the only person with significant control
SIC codes
85200 Primary education, 85310 General secondary education
Next accounts
Year to 31 March 2026, due by 31 December 2026

Alternatives to Oak National Academy

How we built this profile

  1. Sources. Facts come from the company’s own website, press room, imprint and careers page, from Wikipedia, the App Store, Google Play and Trustpilot. Every source is listed on the page.
  2. Checks. Kinescope checked every number on 8 October 2026. Prices, ratings and job counts change, and we refresh them with each update.
  3. Our words. Descriptions are written by the Kinescope team. Quotes from reviews are marked with the author and source, and we do not rate the company ourselves.
  4. Corrections. The company can send new facts or corrections, and we update the profile.

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Oak National Academy FAQ

A public body in England that publishes free curriculum plans and lesson resources for schools. It covers 20 subjects from key stage 1 to key stage 4. It started in April 2020 to support remote learning during the pandemic.

Oak National Academy Limited is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Education. The DfE pays for all of its work through grant-in-aid, £22.0 million in 2024-25. Oak says it is operationally independent from the DfE, and the Secretary of State for Education controls the company.

Yes. Lessons, curriculum plans, the pupil area, Aila and the API are free. A free account is needed for some copyrighted content and for Aila.

Sequenced curriculum plans and about 13,500 lessons. Each lesson has an editable slide deck, a worksheet, a starter quiz and an exit quiz. Teachers can download single lessons or full units.

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