Oak National Academy

Overview

Oak National Academy is a free curriculum and teaching-resource platform for schools, with materials for key stages 1–4 across 20 subjects. It suits teachers and school teams that want adaptable, curriculum-aligned content, plus an open API for connecting curriculum resources to their existing systems.

Its breadth, no-cost access and teacher-focused AI tools make it a strong starting point for lesson planning. The trade-offs are important: pupils must not use its generative AI tools directly, reuse rights differ for older content, and some accessibility issues remain.

Key features

Oak’s materials span lesson plans, slide decks, quizzes, worksheets and videos of teachers teaching the content. Coverage aligns with the national curriculum and exam boards. Teachers can use these resources as starting points and adapt them for their pupils and setting, rather than treating them as a fixed course. Built-in assessments and teacher tools make the package more useful than a content library alone.

Teachers can also use AI tools to create, adapt and enhance curriculum-aligned lessons, slide decks and quizzes. These tools are intended for teachers and education professionals, not pupils. Oak says its Labs site uses OpenAI models, does not submit personal information to OpenAI and has opted out of automatic model training. That makes the AI a staff workflow aid, not a pupil-facing learning assistant.

An open curriculum API gives teams a route to work with Oak’s curriculum resources programmatically. Oak also lists Google Cloud Platform, Google Drive, OpenAI and Zapier among service providers in its privacy policy. That provider list should not be read as a promise of a particular integration workflow; the API is the clearest stated option for teams planning system connections.

Content published after 1 September 2022 is generally available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, subject to exceptions and third-party rights. Older lessons may be downloadable where Oak allows, but their videos cannot be downloaded, recorded or reproduced under the licence. Teams planning to reuse or redistribute material should check those distinctions before building it into a workflow.

Oak says it limits personal-data collection to what it needs, does not sell personal data and applies added protections because many users are children. Its site supports keyboard navigation and screen readers in most areas, but known issues affect some embedded Google files, captions and other page elements. The Help Centre covers curriculum plans, teaching resources, AI tools, the pupil area and technical support.

Pricing

Free — 0.00 USD per free. Oak describes the plan as having no paywalls, package tiers or hidden costs. It includes the curriculum and teaching resources, teacher tools, assessments and API access, with no trial needed. There are no stated seat or usage caps. For schools and trusts seeking broad curriculum material without a software budget, that removes a significant adoption barrier; the main cost is the staff time needed to adapt resources and fit them to local practice.

Platforms

Oak is available on the web and through an API. It is classified for K–12, covers all subjects and aligns to standards. The API makes it relevant to teams that want more than a standalone browsing experience, while web access serves teachers and pupils using the platform directly.

Who it's for

Oak is best suited to teachers, schools and trusts that want a broad, free set of adaptable curriculum resources across multiple subjects and key stages. Its materials and AI tools support teacher planning; the age-related restriction means it is not the right choice for a team seeking pupil-directed generative AI. Schools also need to review the reuse terms for older videos and account for accessibility gaps in specific page elements.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Broad coverage across 20 subjects and key stages 1–4 gives schools a single source for varied curriculum materials.
• Pros: Free access has no paywalls or package tiers, making it practical for schools that cannot commit to a paid platform.
• Pros: Adaptable resources, teacher tools, assessments and an open API support both classroom planning and technical reuse.
• Pros: Oak’s stated limits on data collection and its AI data-handling practices matter in a service used by children.
• Cons: Generative AI is for educators, not direct pupil use, limiting its fit for student-facing AI workflows.
• Cons: Older lesson videos cannot be downloaded, recorded or reproduced, which constrains reuse compared with newer content.
• Cons: Known accessibility issues with some embedded files, captions and page elements may affect particular users and materials.

Alternatives

K-12 Curriculum Platforms is a useful starting point for comparing options across the category. Choose Khan Academy instead if mobile access matters, or if a U.S. school or district with 1,000 or fewer student licenses wants its $10.00 USD per year Enterprise Starter plan; its Enterprise plan has custom pricing.

MobyMax is worth considering when Android, iOS, macOS or Windows access is important, alongside web use; it has a free educator version with limited access compared with licensed features. For free interactive K–12 math, literacy and science lessons with a Teacher Dashboard and Polypad virtual manipulatives, consider Amplify Classroom; customization is partial.

Eureka Math is a better fit for teams focused on math curriculum in downloadable PreK–12 PDFs, with student and teacher editions, curriculum maps and overviews. For a full TK–12 math curriculum online with downloadable and printable teacher and student PDFs at no cost, consider Illustrative Mathematics. Schools seeking free science curriculum downloads with registration may prefer OpenSciEd, which limits downloads to educators or parents.

For K–12 school or district solutions on a paid basis, compare Imagine Learning. K12 Learning Solutions is another paid option for teams prepared to request a demo or contact the provider for pricing.

Verdict

Choose Oak National Academy if your school needs wide curriculum coverage, adaptable teaching materials and an open API without a software charge. Its strongest case is breadth at no cost, backed by teacher-focused tools and a clear privacy stance. Look elsewhere if you need pupil-facing generative AI, unrestricted reuse of older lesson videos or consistently accessible page elements.