The IGCSE Lesson Plan: A Practical Evidence-First Template

Start with the evidence students must produce

A lesson objective should describe a performance you can see, hear or inspect. ‘Know photosynthesis’ leaves the teacher guessing. ‘Explain how limiting factors change the rate of photosynthesis using an unfamiliar graph’ points toward prior knowledge, modelling, practice and an exit task. Attach the exact syllabus statement and assessment objective so the lesson remains part of a coherent course.

Choose the final evidence before choosing activities. If the exit task requires an extended evaluation, students need to see how evidence is selected and weighed. If it requires a calculation, they need a worked model, guided examples and an independent question. Activities earn their place by preparing students for the evidence—not by looking engaging in isolation.

Use the six-box planning template

The best template is brief enough to use every week and detailed enough to expose weak decisions. A one-page plan can hold the essential thinking; resources and model answers can sit behind it.

• 1. Alignment: syllabus reference, assessment objective and one measurable learning outcome.
• 2. Starting point: prerequisite knowledge, diagnostic question and assumptions about the class.
• 3. Explanation and model: exact example, teacher thinking and success criteria.
• 4. Practice sequence: guided attempt, feedback point and independent application.
• 5. Anticipated response: two likely misconceptions, planned scaffold and meaningful extension.
• 6. Evidence and follow-up: exit task, sampling method, thresholds for reteaching and retrieval date.

Plan questions before the room gets busy

Write three high-value questions in advance: a diagnostic question at the beginning, a hinge question before independent work, and a transfer question at the end. Decide what different answers would mean. If option B reveals confusion between mass and weight, your response should already be planned; simply telling students the correct option wastes the diagnostic information.

Sampling matters. Asking ‘Does everyone understand?’ mostly measures confidence and compliance. Use all-student response where possible—mini-whiteboards, short written answers, polls or selected work samples—then invite explanation. Build wait time and follow-up prompts into the plan.

Reflect with evidence, not mood

After the lesson, record three short notes: what students could now do, which misconception remained, and what you will change next. ‘They enjoyed it’ can matter for climate, but it is not evidence of the stated learning outcome. Keep anonymised samples when permitted and compare them with the success criteria.

Not every lesson needs a formal document. Write detailed plans for new units, observations, difficult concepts and assessments; use concise sequence notes for familiar lessons. The planning habit that matters is alignment: syllabus to outcome, outcome to instruction, instruction to evidence, and evidence to the next decision.