Key takeaways
- A learning intention names the skill, concept or knowledge students will learn — never the task they do.
- Success criteria are the 2–4 pieces of evidence that show the intention has been met, written as 'I can' statements.
- WALT ('We Are Learning To') and WILF ('What I'm Looking For') are the classroom shorthand for the two.
- Strip the activity context out of the intention: 'make a poster' is the task, 'persuade a reader' is the learning.
- Co-construct and revisit the criteria so students can self-assess against them, not just admire them on the wall.
Learning intentions and success criteria are the two sentences that make a lesson make sense — to you and to your students. The learning intention tells students what they will learn. The success criteria tell them how they (and you) will know they have learned it. Get both right and students stop asking "what are we doing?" and start asking "am I there yet?"
They sit at the heart of syllabus-aligned planning in Australia and New Zealand, and are described by AITSL, the NSW Department of Education and Ireland's NCCA as a core teaching practice. They are also one of the most researched: John Hattie's Visible Learning work is built on the idea that learning speeds up when students can see the goal and the marks of success.
Learning intention vs success criteria vs the task
The single most common mix-up is writing the activity where the learning should go. A lesson can have a great activity and no clear learning at all. This table keeps the three apart.
| Element | What it is | Example (Year 4 persuasive writing) |
|---|---|---|
| Learning intention | The skill, concept or knowledge students will learn | We are learning to write a persuasive paragraph. |
| Success criteria | The evidence that shows the intention has been met | I can state a clear opinion; I give two reasons; I use a linking word like 'because' or 'so'. |
| Learning task | The activity students do to practise the learning | Write a letter to the principal asking for a longer lunch break. |
How to write a learning intention
- 1
Start from the curriculum, not the activity
Find the concept or skill inside the syllabus outcome first. The task comes later — it is only the vehicle for the learning.
- 2
Open with a learning verb
Use the WALT frame ('We are learning to…') plus an observable verb such as explain, compare, justify or estimate. Avoid vague verbs like 'understand' or 'know about'.
- 3
Strip out the context
Cut phrases like 'by making a poster' or 'in your book'. If you can swap the activity and the intention still holds, you have it right.
- 4
Keep it to one focus
One intention per lesson. If you have written two, you are probably planning two lessons.
- 5
Say it in student language
Rewrite it so the youngest student in the room could repeat it back and know what it means.
How to write success criteria
- 1
Break the intention into visible steps
Ask: what would a student say, do, or produce that proves this learning has happened? Each answer is a criterion.
- 2
Write them as 'I can' statements
This is the WILF frame — 'What I'm Looking For'. 'I can give two reasons' is checkable; 'good persuasion' is not.
- 3
Keep it to two to four points
More than four turns into a task checklist and students lose the thread. Choose the criteria that show real understanding.
- 4
Co-construct where you can
Show a strong example and a weak one and have students name the difference. The differences they spot become the criteria they own.
- 5
Turn them into feedback
Use the same criteria to give feedback and to let students self- and peer-assess against a shared, visible standard.
Worked examples across year levels
Year 2 — Mathematics (place value)
Learning intention: We are learning to show a two-digit number in tens and ones.
Success criteria: I can split a number into tens and ones; I can build it with blocks or a drawing; I can write it two ways (for example, 34 = 3 tens and 4 ones).
Year 4 — Writing (persuasion)
Learning intention: We are learning to write a persuasive paragraph.
Success criteria: I can state a clear opinion in the first sentence; I give two reasons that support it; I finish with a sentence that restates my view.
Year 6 — Reading (comprehension)
Learning intention: We are learning to infer a character's feelings from the text.
Success criteria: I can find a word or action in the text as evidence; I can name the feeling it suggests; I can explain the link between the two in my own words.
Effect size of teacher clarity — making learning goals and success criteria explicit — on student achievement, well above the 0.40 hinge point.
Source: John Hattie, Visible Learning
Common mistakes to avoid
Naming the task, not the learning
'We are learning to make a poster' describes the activity. Name the skill the poster is practising instead.
Too many success criteria
A list of ten becomes a to-do list. Keep to the two to four criteria that actually show understanding.
Criteria only you understand
If students can't judge their own work against a criterion, reword it in their language until they can.
Setting and forgetting
Return to the criteria at the end of the lesson so students assess their own progress, not just at the start.
The workflow that keeps this manageable is simple: write the intention from the outcome, draft the criteria from the intention, then design the task last. When the task comes first, the learning goal ends up bent to fit the activity — which is exactly how a fun lesson can teach very little.
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Try the lesson plan generatorFrequently asked questions
The learning intention states what students will learn — the skill, concept or knowledge. The success criteria state how students and the teacher will know that learning has happened, usually as two to four 'I can' statements that describe the evidence.
WALT stands for 'We Are Learning To' and is a friendly way to phrase the learning intention. WILF stands for 'What I'm Looking For' and is used to introduce the success criteria. Many Australian and New Zealand classrooms display them side by side.
Aim for two to four. Fewer than two rarely captures the learning; more than four usually means you have written a checklist of task steps rather than the evidence of understanding.
Where the concept allows, yes. Co-constructing criteria — often by comparing a strong and a weak example — helps students internalise the standard and makes self- and peer-assessment far more accurate.
From the curriculum or syllabus outcome, not the activity. Identify the skill or concept in the outcome first, then strip away any task context so the intention describes the learning rather than what students happen to be making.