Learning Outcomes: Meaning, Examples and How to Write Them (With NCERT Examples and a Template)

What are learning outcomes?

CBSE's Handbook for Teachers (2019) defines learning outcomes as statements of the knowledge, skills and abilities that students should have and can show at the end of a learning experience. In its own words, they recognise 'what the learner knows, will get to know and can do by the end of a class'.

NCERT, which wrote India's class-wise learning outcomes for Classes 1 to 8, calls them check-points. They can be measured in a qualitative or a quantitative way, and they show a child's progress. Meghalaya's education department puts it simply: learning outcomes are assessment standards that show the level of learning children are expected to reach in a class.

Three things make a statement a real learning outcome:

• It is about the student, not the teacher. 'Students will explain why ice floats' is an outcome. 'I will show an ice cube in water' is a teaching activity.
• It uses an action you can see or hear: explain, classify, measure, draw, solve, write. 'Know' and 'understand' are hard to see.
• You can check it. If you cannot think of a question or a task that shows whether a child has reached it, the outcome is not finished yet.

In simple words: a learning outcome answers the question, 'At the end of this, what can my student do that they could not do before, and how will I know?'

Learning objectives vs learning outcomes vs curricular expectations

These words are often mixed up, and B.Ed exams and school interviews ask about the difference. Each one sits at a different level.

CBSE's handbook puts it like this: the curriculum is the planned set of experiences, learning objectives describe the expected goal of that curriculum, course or lesson, and learning outcomes are what the learner can show at the end. 'The objectives, curriculum and outcome complement each other', it says. Flinders University's guide makes the same split more sharply: objectives say what students will be taught, outcomes say what students will be able to do.

In practice, many Indian lesson plan formats have one box called 'objectives' and fill it with outcome-style statements ('Students will be able to...'). That is fine. What matters is that the statement is about the student and can be checked. If your B.Ed college or school wants both, write the objective as your teaching aim and the outcome as the student's action.

Why learning outcomes matter in Indian schools

Learning outcomes are not just a teacher-training idea. They are part of how Indian school education is planned and checked.

• They are in the rules. NCERT's document says that from the 2017-18 session, benchmarks for the learning levels of students in Classes 1 to 8 were included in the rules, and their use is mandatory. Meghalaya's education department notes they were added to the Central Rules of the RTE Act, 2009, and apply to government, aided and private schools.
• Surveys use them. NCERT says the National Achievement Survey (NAS) would be based on these learning outcomes and run in all classes of the elementary stage.
• CBSE asked for them. CBSE's handbook says that by a circular dated 18 January 2019, the Board directed all affiliated schools to adopt learning outcome based education.
• NEP 2020 builds on them. The policy says classroom teaching will shift towards competency-based learning to close the gap in learning outcomes, and that assessment tools will be aligned with the learning outcomes set for each subject of a class.
• Parents and SMCs can use them. NCERT wrote the document for teachers, teacher-educators, administrators and parents, so that parents and School Management Committee members also know what children should be able to do.

NCERT also explains the problem outcomes are meant to fix. Many teachers are not clear about what kind of learning is wanted, so they treat the textbook as the whole curriculum and test children only with the questions at the end of each chapter. Clear outcomes give a teacher something better to aim at than 'finish the chapter'.

Where to find official learning outcomes

You do not need to invent outcomes for school subjects from scratch. Start from the official lists, then break them down for your lessons.

Two points from NCERT's document are worth knowing. First, the outcomes are 'not prescriptive' and can be adapted to local needs. Second, the teaching processes in the next column are suggestions and do not match the outcomes one-to-one, so you can design your own activities. NCERT also says the outcomes are the same for all children, including children with special needs, with support such as extra time, adapted activities and accessible materials.

Learning outcomes examples from NCERT

Here are real outcomes from NCERT's class-wise list, with a quick way a teacher could check each one in class. The outcomes are quoted or closely shortened from NCERT; the 'how to check' column is our suggestion.

Notice the pattern. Every NCERT outcome starts with an action verb (identifies, explains, classifies, measures, writes) and names what the student acts on. That is the pattern you will copy when you write your own.

Bloom's taxonomy and action verbs for learning outcomes

The verb is the heart of a learning outcome. It tells students what kind of thinking you expect, and it tells you what kind of question to ask. Most teachers pick verbs using Bloom's taxonomy. Benjamin Bloom's group published the cognitive domain in 1956, and in 2001 Anderson and Krathwohl revised the levels from nouns to verbs. The revised version is the one most used today.

Carnegie Mellon University's teaching centre warns against three vague phrases: 'understand X', 'obtain a working knowledge of X' and 'gain an appreciation for X'. Ask yourself what a student would do differently if they really understood. That action is your verb. CBSE's handbook gives the same advice: avoid 'be exposed to', 'be familiar with' and 'develop an appreciation of', because you cannot observe them.

Bloom's group also described an affective domain (attitudes and values) and a psychomotor domain (physical skills). The University of Illinois Chicago guide notes that affective outcomes are often the hardest to write. If you want one, make it visible: 'takes turns and listens without interrupting during group work' can be observed; 'values teamwork' cannot.

Use a mix of levels. A lesson where every outcome is 'list' or 'define' will produce rote learning. A lesson where every outcome is 'create' may be too hard for a first class on a topic. Two or three outcomes that climb from remember to apply or analyse is a good shape for most school lessons.

How to write learning outcomes in 6 steps

Use these steps for a lesson, a chapter or a whole course. They follow the advice in CBSE's handbook and the alignment idea from Carnegie Mellon: outcomes, assessment and teaching activities must match.

Step 1: Start from the official outcome or the course goal

For school subjects, find the outcome in NCERT's list or your state's list for your class and subject. For a coaching course or a skill course, write down what a student should be able to do at the end of the whole course. Everything else will break this down.

Step 2: Use the stem

Begin with 'By the end of this lesson, students will be able to...'. Carnegie Mellon suggests the same prompt for courses. The stem forces you to think about the student and the end point.

Step 3: Pick one action verb

Choose a verb from the Bloom's table that matches the thinking you want. Use one verb per outcome. CBSE's handbook says outcomes should be simple, not compound: 'analyse data and explain statistics in writing' is really two outcomes, so split it.

Step 4: Name the content and, if useful, the condition and the standard

Say what the student acts on ('equivalent fractions of a given fraction'). Add a condition if it changes the task ('using a paper strip', 'without a calculator', 'from a bar graph'). Add a standard only when you will really check it ('at least four out of five correct'). Do not add a percentage just to look measurable.

Step 5: Write the check before you plan the activity

For each outcome, write the one question, task or observation that will show whether a student reached it. If the check does not match the verb (the outcome says 'explain' but the test is multiple choice), change one of them. This is the alignment Carnegie Mellon describes: without it, students rightly complain that the test had nothing to do with the class.

Step 6: Test it against the checklist

CBSE's handbook lists the qualities of a good outcome. Run every outcome through them before you teach.

• Specific and well defined: another teacher would check it the same way.
• Realistic: possible for these students in the time you have.
• Active verb, future tense: 'will be able to classify', not 'have been exposed to'.
• Aligned with the curriculum: it serves the class or course outcome.
• Simple, not compound: one verb, one skill.
• About the product, not the process: what students show, not what you do.

Worked example: a Class 5 maths lesson on equivalent fractions

Here is how a teacher might turn one NCERT outcome into lesson outcomes for a 40-minute period. The NCERT outcome is real; the lesson plan around it is an illustrative example.

Official outcome (NCERT, Class 5 maths): the learner identifies and forms equivalent fractions of a given fraction.

First draft from a teacher: 'Students will understand equivalent fractions.' This fails the checklist. 'Understand' cannot be seen, and there is no check.

Better version, split into three outcomes that climb Bloom's levels:

1. Students will be able to show that 1/2 and 2/4 are equal by folding and shading a paper strip. (Understand)
2. Students will be able to write two equivalent fractions for a given fraction by multiplying the numerator and denominator by the same number. (Apply)
3. Students will be able to decide whether two given fractions are equivalent and explain why in one sentence. (Analyse)

Notice what changed. The teacher now knows exactly what to look for during the lesson, the exit slip tests the same thing the outcome promises, and the last column says what to do with the result. That last column is where outcomes connect to formative assessment: you check, then you act.

Learning outcomes template for your lesson plan

Copy this block into any lesson plan. It works with the format in our guide to the lesson plan format and with most B.Ed formats.

Quick checklist before you teach

• Every outcome starts with an action verb, not 'know', 'understand' or 'learn'.
• Each outcome has one verb and one skill.
• I have written how I will check each outcome.
• The check matches the verb: 'explain' gets a 'why' question, 'draw' gets a drawing.
• Two or three outcomes for one period, not six.
• At least one outcome goes beyond remembering.
• I have told students the outcomes in simple words at the start of class.

That last point matters. Carnegie Mellon notes that clear objectives help students direct their own effort and track their progress. Write the outcomes on the board as 'Today you will be able to...' and come back to them in the last five minutes.

Learning outcomes for coaching classes and online courses

Coaching faculty and tutors rarely have an official outcome list. The same method still works, at three levels.

CBSE's handbook suggests a curriculum map: a grid with learning outcomes in the rows and courses (or chapters) in the columns. A tick shows where each outcome is taught and tested. For a coaching batch, use chapters as columns. Any outcome with no tick in the test column is one you teach but never check. Any test question that matches no outcome is testing something you did not promise.

For video lectures, put the outcome in the first ten seconds ('In this video you will learn to calculate the discriminant') and end with a short test on exactly that. If you make your own papers, our guide on how to make a question paper shows how to build a blueprint from your outcomes so marks follow what you taught.

Common mistakes, and when learning outcomes are not enough

When this is not for you, or not enough

• Outcomes describe the end point, not the journey. NCERT warns that focusing only on the end product, especially in maths, can push learning towards rote memorisation without understanding. Keep good teaching processes, such as discussion, activities and questions, alongside your outcomes.
• Some learning resists a neat statement. NCERT's own document notes that attitudes and values are hard to assess with precision through a paper-pencil test. Observe them over time instead of forcing a score.
• Outcomes are not a syllabus to race through. If half the class has not reached an outcome, moving on because the plan says so defeats the purpose. Our guide to remedial teaching covers what to do next.
• If your school already gives you a fixed list and a fixed test, your job is to break the list into lesson outcomes, not to rewrite it.

Using learning outcomes on Sikhami

Sikhami is a social network in India for anyone who is learning, whatever they learn. Teachers get a free profile, connect with institutes and learners, and share short clips and notes. Coaching institutes and tuition centres get a free LMS with video courses that include tests and certificates, plus classroom batches, attendance, fees and receipts.

Learning outcomes fit naturally into a Sikhami video course. Write the outcome of each section in the section or lecture description, then add a short test at the end of that section that checks exactly that outcome. Tests are multiple choice with one correct answer and two to six options, and you can write an explanation that students see after they submit, so each wrong choice can point back to the outcome. Because multiple choice suits remember, understand and apply outcomes best, check 'explain' or 'create' outcomes in class or through an assignment instead.

If you share notes or clips on your teacher profile, start each one with a one-line 'After this you will be able to...'. Learners can see at once whether it is what they need. See Sikhami for teachers to set up your free profile.