Learning Intentions and
Success Criteria
Learning Intentions
Participants will:
Understand the benefits
of using Learning
Intentions and Success
Criteria
Explore how to design
learning intentions and
success criteria suitable
for your classes
Success Criteria
have an increased
knowledge on how to
design Learning Intention
and Success Criteria to suit
your context
have an increased
confidence in creating and
using your own Learning
Intentions and Success
Criteria
have an increased
knowledge of the
relationship between
Learning Intention,
Success Criteria and
assessing evidence
BTC 5
Assessment needs to be planned as part of learning and
teaching activities. In planning activities and experiences
with young people, staff need to:
 consider and share the outcomes towards which young people are
working
 agree success criteria through discussion with each other and with
learners
 design learning experiences and activities that are likely to
challenge and motivate and give opportunities to children and young
people to provide evidence that demonstrates their knowledge and
understanding, skills, attributes and capabilities
Building the Curriculum 5
Planning: Curriculum, Learning and Teaching and
Assessment
Skills
Experiences and Outcomes
Learning Intentions
Success Criteria
Evidence to support
Learning and Teaching
SAY WRITE MAKE DO
Moderation
What is a Learning Intention?
‘A learning intention describes what pupils should
know, understand or be able to do by the end of the
lesson or series of lessons.’
(Learning Unlimited, 2004)
Learning Intentions
• Identify new learning
• Focus on transferable skills
Why?
Why Are Learning Intentions and
Success Criteria Important?
‘If learners are to take more responsibility for their own learning, then
they need to know what they are going to learn, how they will
recognise when they have succeeded and why they should learn it in
the first place.’
- (An Intro to AfL, Learning Unlimited, 2004)
Learning
Intentions
‘What’ and
‘Why’
Success Criteria
‘How to recognise success’
Good Learning Intentions are:
Expressed in simple language that every pupil can
understand.
Focused in nature.
Composed using words that are closely related to
learning e.g. Understand that, know how to etc.
Directly linked to the Success Criteria.
Learning Intention – Key Vocabulary
The pupil will (be)
extend/extending
broaden/broadening
develop/developing
strengthen/strengthening
consolidate/consolidating
reinforce/reinforcing
revise/revising
examine/examining
explore/exploring
investigate/investigating
expand/expanding
consider/considering
apply/applying
Knowledge and Understanding, Skills, Attributes
and Capabilities
Learning Intentions may be written as follows:
• We are learning to … or about...
• To know that …
• To understand and explain...
• To share and discuss...
• Today we will be able to …
Defining the Learning Intention
• Activity: What are we doing?
- Playing a game of snap.
• Learning Intention: What are we learning?
- To take turns.
• Context: Vehicle for the learning
- The Game
Early Level – Examples
Activity
Learning Intention
Context
Painting a snowy
picture using white
paint
To develop fine motor skills
and mark making
What snow looks and
feels like
Making repeat
patterns with coloured
cubes
To be able to recognise and
continue a sequential
pattern
Number Patterns
Give a talk about my
favourite toy.
To give information in a
clear and interesting way.
Personal opinions
Learning Intentions
Strong Learning Intentions
Not linked to context
Not simply a description of the activity
Often describe transferable skills
Activity 1 – Learning Intentions
• 20 Questions
• From the given Learning Intentions identify
which learning intentions are strong, weak and
unsure
Success criteria
Learning
Intentions
Success Criteria
‘How to recognise
success’
‘What’ and
‘Why’
© PMB 2007
What are success criteria?
‘… success criteria summarise the key
steps or ingredients the student needs in
order to fulfil the learning intention – the
main things to do, include or focus on.’
- Shirley Clarke
© PMB 2007
Effective Success Criteria
are linked to the learning intention (avoid repetition of same
language)
are specific to an activity
are discussed and agreed with pupils prior to undertaking the
activity
provide a scaffold and focus for pupils while engaged in the activity
are used as the basis for feedback, peer-/self-assessment and
teacher judgements
Evidence should clearly link to Success Criteria
© PMB 2007
Process stronger than Product
Learning Intention:
To be able to identify odd and even numbers
Product Success Criteria:
Your answers will be correct
Process Success Criteria:
Look at the last digit in the number to check the pattern
Divide the number in two to check
Modelling Success Criteria
• Learners need to know what a good piece of
work looks like.
• Share the standard by using examples
– e.g. ‘This is a good piece of work because…’
You may use your own work as examples.
• Involve the children in the process of identifying
success criteria.
Planning: Curriculum, Learning and Teaching and
Assessment
Skills
Experiences and Outcomes
Learning Intentions
Success Criteria
Evidence to support
Learning and Teaching
SAY WRITE MAKE DO
Moderation
Possible ways of gathering evidence
Experience
and
Outcome
Learning
Intention
Context
Activity
I have the
freedom to
discover and
choose ways
to create
images and
objects using a
variety of
materials
EXA 0-02a
To develop
fine motor
skills and
mark making
What
snow
looks
and
feels
like
Painting a
snowy picture
using white
paint
Success
Criteria
Evidence

Painting,
teacher
observation &
recording of
pupil speech
during painting


Hold my brush
between
thumb and
forefinger
Move my
brush in lots of
ways to make
different marks
Use paint and
water to create
different
shades of
white
Possible ways of gathering evidence
Experience
and
Outcome
Learning
Intention
Context Activity
I have the
freedom to
discover &
choose ways to
create images &
objects using a
variety of
materials
EXA 0-02a
Within real &
imaginary
situations, I
share
experiences &
feelings, ideas &
information in a
way that
communicates
my message.
LIT 0-09a
To develop
knowledge and
understanding
of the qualities
of snow
What snow
looks and
feels like
To develop the
use of
descriptive
language
Painting a
snowy picture
using white
paint
Success
Criteria
Evidence

Painting, video
of pupils at work,
teacher
recording of self
and peer
assessment
Self and peer

assessment at
plenary session

Use the paints
and brush to
show what
lying and
falling snow
look like
Use a range
of naming &
describing
words during
painting
Describe what
is good about
my own and
others’
paintings
Further information
www.dylanwiliam.net
• Inside the black box: raising standards through
classroom assessment
By Paul Black, Dylan Wiliam
• Assessment for learning: putting it into practice
By Paul Black, Chris Harrison, Clara Lee, Bethan
Marshall, Dylan Wiliam