Who is actually buying

Not always the teacher.
Often the department head or curriculum coordinator.

In many schools, curriculum adoption decisions are made by heads of department, curriculum coordinators, or subject leads who are searching on behalf of a team. A teacher searching for themselves is evaluating: ‘Will this work in my classroom? Will it save me time?’ A head of department searching for their team is evaluating: ‘Will this work consistently across multiple classrooms? Is this creator reliable enough for an ongoing relationship?’ Your listing copy must speak to both.

Three types of school buyer

Each has a different search pattern
and decision criterion.

🏫The head of department — evaluates for team deployment
What they're looking for: comprehensive scope, consistent quality across all materials, and a creator they can return to for related materials. Listing signal: ‘Complete scheme of work for [unit]’ rather than ‘lesson plan for [specific lesson]’.
👩‍🏫The individual teacher — evaluates for own classroom use
What they're looking for: a specific resource for a specific lesson they need to teach next week, with activities they can run without modification. Listing signal: clear scope statement — exactly what lessons are included and how long each takes.
📋The curriculum coordinator — evaluates for school-wide deployment
What they're looking for: materials that align with the school's curriculum approach, curriculum standard, and differentiation framework. Listing signal: explicit alignment statement — the curriculum standard this covers.
What converts in 30 seconds

Subject + year group + specific topic.
Then they scan the top five results.

Most school curriculum discovery follows the same pattern: a department head searches by subject + year group + specific topic. They scan the top 5–10 results. They apply the four-signal quality evaluation (review count, creator profile, description specificity, preview quality). Your listing has 30 seconds to answer the question: ‘Is this for me?’