Find schemes of work by grade and term
This page is the starting point for schemes of work across every grade, PP1 to Form 4, in editable Word. Schemes are specific to grade, subject and term, so the quickest route is to pick your grade below, then choose the subject and the term you are planning for. Each grade's schemes are published per term, covering Term 1, Term 2 and Term 3, and every set is built from the current KICD curriculum design and kept in line with the school calendar. If you already know your grade, jump straight to it; if you are sourcing schemes for someone else, the sections below let you match grade, subject and term against what you were asked for.
Browse schemes of work by level
Pre-Primary
Lower Primary
Upper Primary
Junior School
- Grade 7 Schemes of Work
- Grade 8 Schemes of Work – read our detailed Grade 8 hub, which links to every learning area.
- Grade 9 Schemes of Work
Senior School
Secondary (8-4-4)
Choosing the right grade, subject and term
A scheme of work is specific to all three, so it helps to confirm each before you download. Here is how to use this page depending on why you are here:
- Teachers go straight to the grade above, then the learning area, for the editable Word file, choosing the term you are currently planning.
- Trainee teachers and educationists will find that each grade-level page breaks down what a scheme actually contains for that level, and the two short explainer sections lower down cover what a scheme of work is and how it is developed in Kenya.
- School administrators, or anyone sourcing schemes on someone else's behalf (including from a cyber café or business centre) should confirm with whoever asked which grade, which subject or subjects, and which term they need before downloading. The wrong file means starting over. Each grade-level page lists every learning area for that grade, so you can match it against what you were told.
What every scheme of work contains
Whichever grade or learning area you open, a scheme of work is built the same way: strands and sub-strands from the curriculum design, broken into weekly lessons, each with specific learning outcomes, suggested learning experiences, a key inquiry question, learning resources, and assessment. The CBC core competencies (communication and collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, citizenship, digital literacy, learning to learn, and self-efficacy), together with values and Pertinent and Contemporary Issues, are mainstreamed into the weekly activities rather than taught as separate topics.
What a scheme of work is
A scheme of work is a term-by-term, week-by-week teaching plan that turns a KICD curriculum design into what a teacher actually delivers in class. Where the curriculum design sets out what a learner should know, do, and value by the end of a grade, the scheme breaks that down week by week: what to teach, the specific learning outcomes for that week, the suggested learning experiences, the key inquiry question, learning resources, and how learners will be assessed. Every lesson plan a teacher writes is drawn from the relevant week in the scheme of work.
It helps to keep three documents apart. A scheme of work is not a lesson plan, which is one lesson's worth of detail drawn from a single week of the scheme. It is also not a curriculum design, which is the official KICD source document that the scheme is built from.
How schemes of work are developed in Kenya
In Kenya, every scheme of work traces back to a KICD curriculum design, and the sequence is always the same: design, then strands and sub-strands, then a weekly breakdown, then the scheme. KICD publishes the curriculum design for each learning area and grade, and schools and teachers convert that design into a scheme of work that spreads its strands and sub-strands across the school calendar, normally three terms, with each week tied to specific learning outcomes and a key inquiry question from the design. This is a genuine teaching-and-planning skill covered in teacher training, and it is also the part of a teacher's workload that a ready-made, curriculum-aligned scheme saves the most time on.
Because the scheme comes straight from the design, it is only as reliable as its link back to the current KICD design. That is one reason schemes going out of date, built on an old syllabus or a superseded strand, are a real risk when they come from an unclear source.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a scheme of work and a lesson plan? A scheme of work covers a whole term week by week at a summary level. A lesson plan expands a single week of the scheme into full lesson detail: introduction, lesson development, extended activities, conclusion, and reflection.
What is the difference between a scheme of work and a curriculum design? The curriculum design is the official KICD document defining what should be taught and assessed for a learning area and grade. The scheme of work is the term-by-term plan a teacher builds from that design.
Are the schemes published per term? Yes. Schemes are specific to the term, so each grade's set covers Term 1, Term 2 and Term 3 separately. Choose the term you are planning for, and if you are sourcing on someone's behalf, confirm which term they need.
Are Elimu Library's schemes of work editable? Yes. They are provided as editable Word files, so you can adjust weeks, dates, and activities to fit your school's calendar and your class.
Are the schemes aligned to the current KICD curriculum? Yes. Every scheme is kept in line with the current school calendar and the latest KICD curriculum design for that learning area and grade. Some sets are also developed against specific KICD-approved coursebooks alongside the general CBC-aligned version; open your grade's set and check the file titles to find a book-matched scheme if you need one.
I need schemes for a grade I'm not sure about. Where do I start? Use the browse-by-level section above to find the grade, then the subject you were asked to source, then the term. If the request came from someone else, confirm the exact grade, subject, and term with them before downloading, since schemes are specific to all three.
Download schemes of work (Editable Word)
All the schemes above are in our catalogue as editable Word files, aligned to the current KICD curriculum designs and kept in line with the current school calendar. Use the level sections above to go straight to your grade and term, or the button below for the full catalogue across every grade.