The Ultimate UK Home Education Curriculum & Resources Guide

Editor's Note: This guide features the actual curriculum, books, and online resources we've used during our home education journey.

Once you've made the decision to home educate, the next question is usually: "What should we actually use to learn?" The sheer volume of available resources can feel overwhelming—from expensive full curriculums to free worksheets scattered across the internet.

After five years of teaching our three children, we've tested countless resources and whittled them down to the absolute essentials that deliver real results. This guide breaks down our top recommendations into simple categories, so you can build the perfect toolkit for your family without the stress.

1. Your Foundation: The Core Curriculum Guide

Before diving into workbooks and websites, every home educator needs a roadmap. This is your "what to teach" guide.

Scholastic - The National Curriculum in England
This book is our home education bible. It provides a clear, year-by-year breakdown of what children are typically learning in schools across all subjects. We use it as our core guide to ensure we're covering key concepts while still maintaining the flexibility to go deeper into topics that captivate our children's interest.

Why we love it: Takes the guesswork out of planning and gives you confidence that you're covering essential material.

2. All-in-One Online Learning Platforms

These platforms provide structured lessons and activities, perfect for days when you want a ready-to-go teaching solution.

Free Platforms:

Oak National Academy
Think of this as your free virtual school. It offers complete lesson sequences with video teachers, slides, and worksheets. We use it as our primary teaching tool for introducing new topics in a structured way.

How we use it: We use their video lessons and lesson details as our core teaching and learning points.

BBC Bitesize
This is our go-to for quick topic reviews and educational games. The content is reliably high-quality and perfectly aligned with the UK curriculum.

How we use it: Perfect for reinforcing concepts we've already covered or when a child needs a different explanation of a tricky topic.

Subscription Platforms:

Reading Eggs
This game-based platform has been incredible for making English and maths engaging for our younger children. The lessons are delivered through fun activities and games that children actually enjoy.

Why it's worth it: The progressive structure builds skills systematically, and the gamification keeps children motivated to learn.

Twinkl
Twinkl is our printable powerhouse. When we need worksheets, craft templates, or display materials for any topic imaginable, Twinkl has it. Their curriculum overviews and lesson plans are particularly helpful for structuring our terms.

Why it's worth it: The sheer volume of high-quality, instantly available resources saves us hours of creation time each week.

3. Core Subject Workbooks & Practice Books

Nothing beats a good workbook for solidifying learning and providing tangible evidence of progress. Here's how we use different publishers:

Collins Workbooks
These are our main learning and practice books. The clear explanations and progressive exercises make them perfect for working through methodically.

CGP Books
We use CGP as our "bite-sized" revision guides. They get straight to the point with clear summaries and practice questions—perfect for quick topic reviews. Some of our favourites include the KS1 English SATS Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling Study & Practice Book, KS1 English SATS Reading Study & Practice Book, and KS1 Maths Study Book.

LETTS Study Books
The comprehensive "study & practice" approach works well when we want dedicated learning sessions. The study book teaches the concept, and the workbook reinforces it. We frequently use the KS1 English Practice Workbook, KS1 Maths Practice Workbook, and KS1 Science Study Book.

4. Building Reading Skills

Developing confident readers is crucial, and we've found one system particularly effective:

Reading Champions Book Packs
These colour-banded collections have been fantastic for progressing our children from beginner to confident readers. The gradual increase in complexity and the included parent guide with discussion questions make reading sessions both structured and enjoyable. We started with the Beginners Collection Series 2 and have progressed through the levels.

5. Free Fun for Early Learners

For parents with younger children, these YouTube channels have been invaluable:

• ABC Kids TV: Perfect for nursery rhymes and alphabet learning

• Alphablocks: Excellent for phonics and early reading skills

• Numberblocks: Makes early maths concepts visual and engaging

• Bob the Train: Great for toddlers learning shapes, numbers, and letters
  
  

6. Bringing It All Together: Your Organisation Solution

Here's the reality: juggling all these different resources across multiple children can become overwhelming quickly. That's exactly why we created the Smart Home Education Manager app.

How the app transforms our resource management:

• Plan lessons using Oak Academy units as your teaching foundation

• Attach links and resources from Twinkl, BBC Bitesize, and other platforms directly to your planned activities

• Track time spent on each subject and resource

• Set reading tasks with Reading Champions books and monitor progress

• Manage multiple children simultaneously with individual profiles

• Generate comprehensive reports that combine all learning activities into professional documentation
  
  

The app transforms what could be chaotic into a smooth, organised system that lets us focus on what matters most—the teaching itself.

Final Thoughts: Building Your Perfect Mix

The beauty of home education is that you can mix and match these resources to create the perfect blend for your family. You might use:

• Oak Academy as your core teaching tool (you can do everything with this one site)

• CGP books for quick revision

• Twinkl for worksheets and crafts

• Reading Eggs for independent practice

• BBC Bitesize for topic reinforcement
  
  

Remember that every family's combination will look different, and that's exactly how it should be. Start with one or two resources that match your teaching style and your child's learning preferences, then gradually build from there.

Ready to get organised with all these resources?

Learn how our Smart Home Education Manager app can help you bring everything together in one place.

What are your favourite home education resources? Share them in the comments below—we're always looking for new discoveries!

The Uwah Family

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products and services we genuinely use and love in our own home education journey.