Learning Objectives and Success Criteria (Examples)

Clear learning objectives make every other part of planning easier. When you know exactly what pupils should learn, it becomes obvious which activities to keep, which questions to ask and what to check at the end.

Yet objectives are easy to get wrong. Many describe what pupils will do rather than what they will learn. This guide explains the difference, shows how to write success criteria that pupils can actually use, and gives examples you can adapt.

Learning objective, success criteria and activity: what's the difference?

These three things are often mixed up. Here is how they fit together:

	What it answers	Example
Learning objective	What will pupils learn?	Understand why the seasons change
Success criteria	How will we know they've learned it?	I can explain that the Earth's axis is tilted; I can use a diagram to show why summer days are longer
Activity	What will pupils do?	Model the Earth's orbit with a torch and a globe

The activity is how pupils get to the objective. It is not the objective itself. "Make a model of the solar system" is an activity; it only becomes useful when you know what pupils should learn from making it.

How to write a good learning objective

A strong learning objective is short, focused on learning, and clear enough that a pupil could explain it to someone else. Try this pattern:

A simple pattern

By the end of the lesson, pupils will be able to + a clear verb + the knowledge or skill.

For example: "By the end of the lesson, pupils will be able to explain how a bill becomes law in the UK Parliament."

Choose the verb carefully, because it tells you what the check at the end should look like:

Name, list, label, recall for remembering facts.
Explain, describe, summarise for showing understanding.
Use, calculate, apply, solve for using a skill.
Compare, analyse, sort for breaking ideas down.
Judge, argue, evaluate for weighing evidence.
Design, write, create for making something new.

These verbs come loosely from Bloom's taxonomy, a way of describing levels of thinking that was later revised by Anderson and Krathwohl. You do not need to aim for the "highest" verbs every lesson. Pupils need secure knowledge before they can evaluate anything, so a lesson that ends with "recall" is often exactly right.

Avoid vague verbs such as know, understand or learn about on their own. They are hard to check. "Understand fractions" could mean anything; "explain why ½ and 2/4 are equal using a diagram" can be checked in two minutes.

How to write success criteria

Success criteria break the objective into steps that pupils can check for themselves. Good criteria are:

Written in pupil-friendly words. "I can…" statements work well, especially in primary.
Specific. "I can use a capital letter at the start of each sentence", not "I can write well".
Few in number. Two to four is plenty.
Checkable. A pupil should be able to look at their work and say yes or no.

Some teachers find it useful to split criteria into two kinds. Product criteria describe what the finished work contains ("my paragraph includes two pieces of evidence"). Process criteria describe the steps to follow ("I can find evidence in the text, then explain what it shows"). Process criteria are often more helpful for pupils who are stuck, because they show the next step.

Examples for different ages and subjects

Year 2 science

Objective: Pupils will be able to sort materials by their properties.
Success criteria: I can say if a material is hard or soft. I can say if a material is see-through or not. I can sort objects into groups and explain my groups.

Year 5 maths

Objective: Pupils will be able to find equivalent fractions.
Success criteria: I can use a fraction wall to find fractions that are equal. I can multiply the top and bottom by the same number. I can explain why ⅔ and 4/6 are the same amount.

Year 8 history

Objective: Pupils will be able to explain two causes of the English Civil War.
Success criteria: I can describe a disagreement about money or religion between King Charles I and Parliament. I can explain how it made war more likely. I can use a date or a fact to support my point.

Year 11 English

Objective: Students will be able to analyse how a writer uses language to build tension.
Success criteria: I can pick out a precise word or phrase. I can name the technique. I can explain its effect on the reader, not just what it means.

Sharing the objective helps pupils see the point of the lesson, but there are better ways than asking everyone to copy it down:

Show it on the first slide and put it in your own words.
Ask, "Why do you think this matters?" or "Where have we seen this before?"
Leave the success criteria visible so pupils can check their work against them.
Come back to them at the end and ask pupils to rate themselves against each one, then check with a real question.

Self-ratings alone are not reliable, because pupils often think they understand more than they do. Pair them with a quick question that shows what they really know, such as an exit ticket.

Common mistakes to avoid

Writing the activity as the objective. "Watch a video on the water cycle" is not something to learn.
Too many objectives. One clear objective beats four rushed ones.
Criteria that repeat the objective. "I can understand photosynthesis" does not help anyone.
Never coming back to them. If you don't check the objective at the end, it was just a sentence on a slide.

Putting it into your plan

Once you have the objective and criteria, the rest of the lesson follows: the starter reviews what pupils need, the teaching builds towards the criteria, and the plenary checks them. Our step-by-step guide on how to write a lesson plan shows how all the parts fit together, and formative assessment strategies explains how to check progress against the criteria during the lesson.

Questions teachers ask

What is the difference between a learning objective and success criteria?

The learning objective says what pupils will learn. The success criteria say how they, and you, will know they have learned it. An objective might be 'understand how plants make food'; a success criterion might be 'I can name the three things a plant needs for photosynthesis'.

Are learning objectives and learning intentions the same?

Yes, in most schools the two terms mean the same thing: a short statement of what pupils should learn in the lesson. Some schools also use WALT (We Are Learning To) for the objective and WILF (What I'm Looking For) for the success criteria.

How many learning objectives should a lesson have?

Usually one, sometimes two. If you need more, you probably have more than one lesson's worth of content.

Should I write the objective on the board?

Sharing it helps, but copying it out wastes time. Show it, talk about it in pupil-friendly words, and come back to it at the end when you check learning.