Oak National Academy has signed up the publisher and education firm Pearson as one of its preferred curriculum partners, Tes can reveal.
The news that Pearson is to join as an Oak partner comes ahead of the publication of its full cohort of new curriculum providers, which Tes understands is expected to be announced next week.
The online learning provider has reviewed its curriculum partners since becoming a government arm’s length body last year.
Last month Oak, as the government’s online learning platform, announced it would require future curriculum partners to appoint teachers to create and review lesson resources for the quango later this year.
It said curriculum partners would look for experienced classroom teachers to carry out paid roles.
Last year the British Educational Suppliers’ Association (BESA), the Publishers’ Association, the Society of Authors and the NEU teaching union launched a joint legal challenge against the government’s decision to establish Oak as a publicly funded arm’s-length body over concerns it would impact teacher autonomy and the education resources market in the UK.
Pearson has been a member of BESA since 2006, according to the BESA website, and is also a member of the Publishers’ Association.
The original curriculum partners of Oak National Academy, which was founded during the pandemic, included Ark Schools and United Learning.
In June last year Tes revealed that the Department for Education had struck a deal to pay the quango’s original resource providers for the copyright of lesson resources they had previously provided for free.
However, United Learning later strongly criticised the new Oak quango after pulling its resources from the platform and placing them on its own new site instead.
Oak National Academy, the Department for Education and BESA have been contacted for comment.
