Content planning: editorial calendars and content briefs
For content writers, marketing coordinators, help-centre editors and anyone who commissions web content. Complete 'Content calendars that actually work' first. That course covers scheduling clashes and lead times. This one starts earlier and goes further: writing user needs with acceptance criteria, deciding whether a page should be created, updated, combined or retired, writing a content brief, planning a calendar with owners and review dates, and checking a draft against the brief. It draws on GOV.UK's content design guidance and Digital.gov. GOV.UK's limits are its own house standard, and your organisation's style guide takes precedence where it differs.
- Level
- Beginner
- Length
- About 80 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Write a user need with acceptance criteria for a planned piece of content
- Decide whether to create new content or update, combine or retire existing content
- Write a content brief that sets the user need, audience, evidence, title, summary, owner, approvers and review date
- Plan an editorial calendar that schedules drafting, expert review, publishing and the next content review
- Check a draft against its brief for title and summary length, plain English and active voice
Course outline
- 1.Writing user needs with acceptance criteriaLesson · 16 min
- 2.Deciding whether to create, update, combine or retire contentLesson · 15 min
- 3.Writing a content briefLesson · 16 min
- 4.Planning an editorial calendar with owners and review datesLesson · 15 min
- 5.Checking a draft against its briefLesson · 12 min
- 6.Content planning: editorial calendars and content briefs: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 15 questions
- 7.Content planning: editorial calendars and content briefs: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- GOV.UK content and publishing guidance: Identify user needs
- GOV.UK content and publishing guidance: Understand content design
- GOV.UK content and publishing guidance: Plan new GOV.UK content
- GOV.UK content and publishing guidance: Manage existing GOV.UK content
- GOV.UK content and publishing guidance: Meet user needs (writing guidelines)
- GOV.UK content and publishing guidance: Write clear titles
- GOV.UK content and publishing guidance: Write clear summaries
- GOV.UK content and publishing guidance: Use clear language (plain English)
- Digital.gov: An introduction to content
- Digital.gov: Crafting quality content throughout its lifecycle (Frances Carden, 12 November 2024)
See it with your own jobs and topics
Tell us about your team and we'll walk you through setup, from choosing jobs to your first skills check.