How much planning time does a ready-made curriculum save teachers?

A ready-made curriculum can save teachers a significant amount of planning time each week, because the core thinking is already done: the long-term plan, the unit structure, the sequence of learning, and the teaching resources which are essential to the successful implementation.

A real example (the kind of shift schools often describe): A teacher who used to spend a big chunk of their weekend building lessons from scratch can move to a much lighter routine — open the unit, read the plans, view the resources, and spend their time on what actually makes the difference: tweaking for their class, rather than inventing everything.

Where the time saving usually comes from

• Units and themes are already planned and sequenced, so teachers aren’t starting with a blank page.
• Resources are ready to use (e.g. slides, PDFs, templates, media), so less time making materials.
• Consistency across the school reduces duplicated effort and last-minute “gap filling”.