Department/subject action plan: template and guidance

Once you’ve identified the strengths and weaknesses of your department or subject, you’ll want to turn that information into a coherent action plan. Download our template and follow our guidance to get the most out of your plan.

Last reviewed on 30 August 2024
School types: AllSchool phases: AllRef: 1294
Contents
  1. Download our template department/subject action plan
  2. Use our checklist to write a strong action plan
  3. Keep your subject audit and school improvement plan in mind
  4. Decide on your priorities
  5. Set SMART targets for each priority
  6. Follow these tips for writing your action plan:

This article is for you if you're creating a department/subject action plan. Before you start, you should identify its strengths and weaknesses by carrying out an audit – find out how to do this in our article on evaluating your department and use our self-evaluation form (SEF) checklist.

If you're a primary school, you can also find advice on action plans for reading and writing.

Download our template department/subject action plan

It has space for you to record:

  • The context of your department, including its strengths and weaknesses – if you're a subject leader, work with your head of department here
  • Your long-term plan over 2 to 3 years
  • Your short-term priorities for the year
  • Each priority in detail, including targets, actions to take (when and by whom), resources, success criteria, how it will be monitored and a RAG rating
KeyDoc: department/subject action plan – template DOCX, 133.6 KB
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Use the following completed action plans to give you an idea