Schemes of work
KS3, GCSE and A Level Schemes of Work (SOW) — Years 7 to 13
For curriculum leads and heads of department
A year, sequenced — not a list of good projects. A scheme of work — SOW, if that is what your department calls it — for each year group, in every subject below.
Six half-termly units most years — four and five in some Year 11s, where study leave takes the last one, and eight in History Year 11 — each written backwards from what the next year states it assumes on entry. The A Level schemes keep that shape over a longer span: six units across the two years, built on the subject content and the regulator rather than on any one board.
One sequence table a unit rather than a page per lesson — enough to teach from, and little enough that a department can actually keep it up. Every unit maps to the statutory programme of study, and the first eight pages of each open here so you can read a real unit before you buy.
Key Stage 3
8 subjects · Years 7 to 9 · £4.99 each, or £11.99 for the three
GCSE
10 subjects · Years 10 and 11 · £5.99 each, or £9.99 for the pair · all GCSE schemes of work
Year 10 and Year 11 English
Year 10 and Year 11 Mathematics
Year 10 and Year 11 Science
Year 10 and Year 11 Art & Design
Year 10 and Year 11 Geography
Year 10 and Year 11 History
Year 10 and Year 11 Physical Education
Year 10 and Year 11 Drama
Year 10 and Year 11 Business
Year 10 and Year 11 Psychology
A Level
5 subjects · both years in one book · £6.99 each
53 schemes across 10 subjects so far, each built to the same shape. If you want one for your own subject, say which and it moves up the list.
Questions
What is a scheme of work?
A plan for teaching a course over time: what is taught, in what order, for how long, and where it is assessed. It sits between the specification, which says what has to be covered, and the lesson, which is one hour of covering it. A department writes one so that every class in a year group meets the same content in the same order.
What does a scheme of work cover?
A full academic year for one year group, with the curriculum map, sequenced so each unit depends on the one before it. A Key Stage 3 or GCSE year usually runs six half-termly units; a GCSE Year 11 can run five or more, and each book says which. At A Level both years are in one book, in six units of about a term each.
How is a scheme of work different from a lesson plan?
Scale, and who keeps it. A scheme of work covers a term or a year and names the units, their order and the assessment points. A lesson plan covers a single lesson inside one of those units. One scheme of work usually sits above dozens of lesson plans, and a head of department owns it while a teacher writes the lesson plans week by week.
How is a scheme of work different from a specification?
A specification is the exam board’s statement of what a course must cover and how it is examined. A scheme of work is the school’s decision about how to teach it: the order of the units, the time each one gets, where assessment falls. The specification is fixed and the same for every school entering that board; the scheme of work is the department’s own.
What format do I get?
A PDF, typeset for A4 and ready to print. It downloads immediately after payment, and the link stays valid so you can come back to it.
Can I share it with my department?
Yes. Every resource is free to reproduce inside the school that buys it. Print it, copy it, hand it round a department. The licence covers one school.
Can I see it before I buy?
Yes. The opening pages of every paid title are readable in the browser, free and without signing up. The behaviour playbook is free in full for a name and an email.
Is it a subscription?
No. One payment, and the file is yours. There is nothing to cancel.
What if it is not what I expected?
If the file is broken, wrong, or never arrived, you get a refund. Email info@empowereducators.co.uk with the receipt number.