Subject action plan: template and guidance

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

Last reviewed on 4 October 2023
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 1294
Contents
  1. Download our template
  2. Use your subject audit and school improvement plan
  3. Decide on your priorities
  4. Set SMART targets for each priority
  5. Follow these tips for writing your action plan

This article is for you if you're creating a general subject action plan. Before you start, you should identify the strengths and weaknesses of your subject – find out how to do this in our other article, which includes a SEF checklist.

For advice and guidance on developing or updating a subject action plan in response to an Ofsted inspection, see our article on post-inspection action plans.

Download our template

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 priorities for the year
  • Each priority in detail, including targets, actions to take, resources, success criteria, how it will be monitored, and a RAG rating

Use the following sample action plan to give you an idea of how you might fill