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Oak National Academy is set to receive a £5 million funding boost for the next academic year, as the quango is tasked with supporting the government’s curriculum revamp.

The curriculum resources provider, which was established as an arm’s-length body of the Department for Education in 2022, will get £22.8 million in government funding for 2026-27.

This represents a rise of £5.39 million from last year, when it received £17.41 million in DfE funding.

The cash boost comes as the government faces a legal challenge over its decision to establish Oak as a government arm’s-length body, with a court date set for the autumn term.

Extra cash for curriculum support

Schools minister Georgia Gould confirmed the funding increase in response to a yesterday.

Oak has been tasked with digitising the revised national curriculum, following the curriculum and assessment review, published last year.

It is also understood to be leading the government’s work to develop AI tutors.

Ms Gould said the funding was also for the redevelopment of Oak’s Reception-year resources.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson previously offered to lower Oak’s funding to prevent legal action, as 91���� revealed in 2024.

But this offer was rejected by claimants, 91���� understands.

An independent review into Oak found that the rationale for establishing Oak as a quango still holds.

Despite warnings that Oak has had a negative impact on the edtech market, the review said that it is a “well-run organisation” and that teacher usage had recently “increased sharply”.

An Oak spokesperson said: “This funding will support updates to our curriculum and lesson materials in line with the national curriculum refresh, our ongoing collaboration with the department to digitise the national curriculum, renewed resources for Reception teachers and continued development of AI tools to support teaching.

“We’ll also continue our work supporting teachers and schools and sharing our content with other providers to enable innovation. We look forward to supporting teachers, schools and the wider education ecosystem over the year ahead.”

A ‘failing and unwanted quango’

Caroline Wright, director general of the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA), which is one of the organisations pursuing legal action, said: “It is incredibly disappointing that despite evidence showing teachers and school leaders prefer autonomy to choose their own curriculum resources, the DfE persists in pouring millions of pounds into Oak National Academy.

“Given the straitened public finances and continued challenging conditions facing British manufacturers, it is unfathomable why ministers choose to continue to redirect money that could go directly to schools and damage the British edtech and curriculum publishing sector by propping up a failing and unwanted quango.”