Q1. A school committee first decides its future direction and targets, then the headteacher arranges staff and timetables to carry them out. In this sequence, planning is best understood as:

• (A) The daily supervision of classroom teaching
• (B) The keeping of school accounts after spending
• (C) The thinking and deciding stage that comes before organizing and executing the work
• (D) The punishment of staff who miss deadlines

Q2. A headteacher writes the school’s targets in June, then spends the year arranging staff, leading teams and checking progress against those targets. This sequence best shows that:

• (A) Planning is one function within management, giving it aims and direction, while management as a whole also organizes, leads and controls
• (B) Planning and management are unrelated activities
• (C) Management ends once a plan is written
• (D) Planning is a substitute for managing people

Q3. A district sets broad education policy, a school then prepares its own plan within that policy, and teachers carry out daily lessons under it. This chain shows administration, planning and execution standing in the order:

• (A) Execution first, then planning, then policy
• (B) Planning first, then execution, then policy
• (C) Supervision first, then policy, then planning
• (D) Policy determination, then planning, then implementation

Q4. A headteacher spends a week writing a detailed plan but never assigns duties, arranges resources or checks progress. The plan is likely to fail because planning without the rest of management is:

• (A) A complete management system on its own
• (B) Thinking without action, since organizing, directing and controlling must follow the plan
• (C) A form of classroom supervision
• (D) A replacement for the school budget

Q5. Which activity belongs most clearly to administration rather than to planning or classroom management?

• (A) Deciding the school’s overall policy, aims and broad priorities
• (B) Preparing a weekly revision timetable
• (C) Observing a teacher’s lesson and giving feedback
• (D) Marking pupils’ homework each evening

Q6. A school plan is written, but the headteacher treats it as a private document and never discusses it with staff. The management fault here is that a plan which is not communicated cannot:

• (A) Be printed in colour
• (B) Be filed in the school office
• (C) Guide and coordinate the work of the people who must implement it
• (D) Be approved by the district office

Q7. A new headteacher is told: “You must plan, but you must also manage.” The advice means she must both:

• (A) Write reports and keep attendance registers
• (B) Teach every subject herself
• (C) Inspect every classroom daily
• (D) Decide the future course and also organize, lead and monitor the work that brings it about

Q8. In a school, the same person often writes the plan, arranges the timetable and checks results. This overlap is best explained by noting that in practice:

• (A) Planning, management and administration are separate jobs that never meet
• (B) The functions overlap and are often performed by the same headteacher at different moments
• (C) Teachers never take part in planning
• (D) District officers write all school plans

Q9. Which of the following best shows management supporting a plan, rather than planning itself?

• (A) Reassigning laboratory periods and appointing a science coordinator to carry out the science plan
• (B) Analysing enrolment data to choose priorities
• (C) Writing the school’s vision statement
• (D) Setting a three-year target for science results

Q10. A school follows a plan rigidly even after enrolment doubles and the timetable breaks down. The management failure is that the plan was treated as:

• (A) A guide to be reviewed and adjusted
• (B) A set of suggestions for discussion
• (C) A draft for staff comment
• (D) A fixed command that replaced judgement, instead of a flexible guide for action

Q11. Which statement best distinguishes a policy from a plan in school management?

• (A) A policy is a daily timetable, while a plan is a rulebook
• (B) A policy is written by teachers, while a plan is written by pupils
• (C) A policy states standing guidelines for decisions, while a plan sets a future course of action with targets and steps
• (D) A policy and a plan are the same document under different names

Q12. A headteacher uses the plan to decide what training to buy, which posts to fill first, and how to spend a small grant. This shows planning serving management by:

• (A) Replacing the need for any budget
• (B) Providing the priorities against which staffing, training and spending decisions are judged
• (C) Removing all discretion from the headteacher
• (D) Guaranteeing district approval for every request

Q13. A school where administration sets policy, planning turns policy into targets and steps, and management executes them is showing:

• (A) A linked chain, in which each stage gives the next stage its direction and limits
• (B) Three competing systems fighting for control
• (C) A system in which planning is unnecessary
• (D) A system in which teachers have no role

Q14. A plan promises improved results, but no one monitors teaching, attendance or spending during the year. At year end the school cannot explain its results. The missing management link is:

• (A) Writing a longer vision statement
• (B) Appointing more clerks
• (C) Holding more assemblies
• (D) Control and evaluation, which compare actual progress with the plan and trigger correction

Q15. Which of the following best explains why planning is described as both a management function and a management tool?

• (A) Planning is the first step in management, and the plan is the written record of decisions already taken
• (B) It is itself a function of management, and the plan is the tool managers use to coordinate later work
• (C) Planning is a coordinating function, and the plan is the timetable for one term only
• (D) Planning is a leadership style, and the plan is a statement of the headteacher’s personal aims

Q16. A school plan calls for a new reading programme. The headteacher first checks what the plan requires, then creates reading groups, assigns lead teachers and sets meeting times. This step shows organizing serving the plan by:

• (A) Rewriting the plan’s targets
• (B) Turning the plan’s intentions into a structure of roles, groups and working relationships
• (C) Reporting results to the district
• (D) Preparing the school budget

Q17. A plan to expand science teaching will need two more science teachers next year. The staffing implication for planning is that the school must:

• (A) Wait until the vacancies cause a crisis
• (B) Reduce science periods to hide the gap
• (C) Ask existing teachers to work without training
• (D) Forecast the staffing need now, and plan recruitment, induction and training in advance

Q18. A headteacher explains the new school plan to staff, answers their questions, and motivates department heads to lead their parts. In POSDCORB terms, this communication and motivation of the plan is mainly:

• (A) Directing, because it leads and guides people in carrying out the plan
• (B) Budgeting, because it deals with money
• (C) Reporting, because it writes a report
• (D) Coordinating, because it merges two departments

Q19. Two departments each plan revision sessions for the same pupils in the same week, under the same school improvement plan. The headteacher’s job of aligning their timetables and sharing rooms is, in planning terms:

• (A) Staffing, because new teachers are appointed
• (B) Budgeting, because money is spent
• (C) Coordinating the plan, so separate departmental actions form one coherent programme
• (D) Reporting, because results are published

Q20. A school plan sets term-wise targets. The headteacher sends the school council a termly note showing enrolment, attendance and progress against those targets. This reporting serves the plan by:

• (A) Replacing the need for future plans
• (B) Punishing departments that missed targets
• (C) Advertising the school to new parents
• (D) Keeping decision-makers informed, so the plan can be adjusted on evidence

Q21. When a school costed its improvement plan, it found the training and materials would exceed its grant. The planning response consistent with budgeting as a POSDCORB function is to:

• (A) Phase the plan, reprioritise its actions, and match spending to the funds actually available
• (B) Ignore the costs and start all actions at once
• (C) Borrow without a repayment plan
• (D) Cancel the plan without telling staff

Q22. A plan fails because departments were never told each other’s targets, so science revision clashed with English revision. The POSDCORB weakness, viewed through planning, is poor:

• (A) Staffing, because teachers were not trained
• (B) Coordination of the plan across departments, so its parts were not harmonised
• (C) Budgeting, because funds were short
• (D) Reporting, because no annual report was printed

Q23. Which sequence best shows how POSDCORB functions support a school plan in order?

• (A) Budget first, then plan, then report, then organize
• (B) Direct first, then staff, then plan, then coordinate
• (C) Plan the direction, organize roles, staff the posts, direct the work, coordinate the parts, report progress, and budget the cost
• (D) Report first, then budget, then direct, then plan

Q24. A school plan names a coordinator for each priority, but gives coordinators no authority to arrange meetings or spend small sums. The plan’s organizing is weak because:

• (A) Responsibility was assigned without the matching authority to carry it out
• (B) Too many teachers were consulted
• (C) The plan was written too early
• (D) The district office was not informed

Q25. A headteacher directs staff to follow a new plan but never explains why it was adopted. Staff comply slowly and resentfully. The directing lesson for planning is that:

• (A) Plans should be kept secret from staff
• (B) Staff should never be asked questions
• (C) Orders alone are sufficient for any plan
• (D) Directing a plan requires communicating its purpose and winning understanding, not merely issuing orders

Q26. In planning terms, staffing is most important at the stage when:

• (A) The school motto is being chosen
• (B) The plan document is being printed
• (C) The plan’s future workload is translated into the numbers, skills and training of people needed
• (D) The annual prize ceremony is being arranged

Q27. A school’s plan is reported to parents in general terms, but the school council receives detailed progress data. The difference is justified because reporting should be:

• (A) Summarized in the same short form for every audience, so all readers receive identical information
• (B) Tailored to the audience’s role: broad for the public, detailed for those responsible for oversight
• (C) Shared in full detail with every audience, including confidential staff matters
• (D) Reported mainly through examination results, with other progress described only in general terms

Q28. A budget prepared for a school plan lists expected income, planned spending by priority, and a small reserve for unexpected costs. The reserve is best justified as:

• (A) A prudent provision for unforeseen costs, so a surprise expense does not derail the plan’s priorities
• (B) A fund for expanding every priority equally at the end of the year
• (C) Money held back until the district approves the final accounts
• (D) A savings target to be returned unspent at year end

Q29. A school plan is well organized and well staffed, but no progress reports are ever produced. The planning cycle is broken because, without reporting, managers cannot:

• (A) Print the plan document
• (B) Appoint new teachers
• (C) Hold a morning assembly
• (D) Compare progress with targets and correct the course while there is still time

Q30. Which of the following best sums up the planning view of POSDCORB?

• (A) Planning is a single event that ends when the document is written
• (B) Each POSDCORB function works in isolation from the plan
• (C) Planning sets the direction, and organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting together carry that direction into results
• (D) Budgeting alone determines whether a plan succeeds

Q31. A planning team begins by gathering enrolment, attendance, results and facility data, then identifies the school’s main problems. This first stage is best called:

• (A) Situational analysis, establishing the facts on which priorities will be based
• (B) Budget approval by the district
• (C) Final evaluation of the plan
• (D) Appointment of new staff

Q32. After analysis, a school must choose between improving reading, reducing dropout and upgrading laboratories, but can fund only one fully. The planning task at this point is:

• (A) To fund all three by ignoring the budget
• (B) To leave the choice to chance
• (C) Prioritisation, weighing urgency, impact and feasibility to decide the order of action
• (D) To repeat the analysis indefinitely

Q33. Teachers, parents, pupils and the school council all have a legitimate interest in a school plan. The strongest planning reason for consulting them is that consultation:

• (A) Makes the plan document longer
• (B) Brings in local knowledge and builds the commitment needed for implementation
• (C) Satisfies visitors who read the plan
• (D) Removes the headteacher’s responsibility

Q34. A parent suggests a new sports ground, while teachers argue that reading support is more urgent. The planning committee should resolve the clash by:

• (A) Accepting the loudest voice in the meeting
• (B) Rejecting all parent suggestions on principle
• (C) Postponing both ideas until next year
• (D) Testing both against pupil data, agreed priorities and available resources

Q35. A school plan allocates extra periods, a trained teacher and reading books to its reading priority, but allocates nothing to its stated mathematics priority. The resource plan is inconsistent because:

• (A) Reading received too much attention
• (B) Mathematics teachers were consulted
• (C) Resources were not matched to every priority the plan claims to pursue
• (D) The plan was written too early in the year

Q36. A school wants to use its existing classrooms better rather than build new rooms. Which resource-planning step fits best?

• (A) Auditing current room use, identifying empty periods, and rescheduling classes to fill them
• (B) Closing the school library to create space
• (C) Doubling class sizes without limit
• (D) Renting rooms far from the school

Q37. A plan budget shows income from the district grant, a small school fund and a community contribution. The most important budgeting principle illustrated by listing all three is that a plan budget should be:

• (A) Based on a single source of income
• (B) Comprehensive, covering all expected income and all planned spending
• (C) Kept secret from the school council
• (D) Written after spending has occurred

Q38. Mid-year, a school finds its plan spending is 20% ahead of its budget while progress is behind target. The correct budgetary response is to:

• (A) Continue spending at the same rate and hope for more funds
• (B) Stop all plan activities immediately
• (C) Hide the overspend until year end
• (D) Review spending against priorities, rephase activities, and adjust the budget with approval

Q39. A school plans a teacher-training programme but schedules it during examination weeks, when teachers cannot attend. The planning fault lies in failing to consider:

• (A) The cost of training materials
• (B) The colour of the training venue
• (C) Time as a resource, and the school calendar in which the plan must fit
• (D) The district officer’s travel plans

Q40. Which stakeholder role in school planning is most accurately described?

• (A) Pupils decide the school budget alone
• (B) The school council helps set priorities and oversees plan funds, while the headteacher leads day-to-day implementation
• (C) Parents teach all subjects under the plan
• (D) The district office writes every classroom lesson plan

Q41. A district plan requires all schools to raise enrolment, but one school’s plan focuses on retaining pupils already enrolled. The school’s choice is defensible if:

• (A) Its data shows dropout, not low admission, is its main enrolment problem
• (B) The school’s plan template includes a retention heading to be completed
• (C) Its admission campaign last year reached few new families, so a different approach is worth trying
• (D) The school has spare classroom capacity for the pupils it already has

Q42. A school receives an unexpected grant mid-year. The best planning use of the grant is to:

• (A) Spend it on the first suggestion made in a staff meeting
• (B) Save it untouched until the next decade
• (C) Divide it equally among all departments regardless of need
• (D) Apply it to the plan’s highest unfunded priority, with council approval and a record of spending

Q43. Human resource planning in a school is best shown when the headteacher:

• (A) Counts the number of desks in each room
• (B) Orders textbooks for next term
• (C) Forecasts retirements and enrolment growth, and plans recruitment and training to match
• (D) Prepares the annual examination schedule

Q44. A school plan depends on a community contribution that has not been confirmed. The prudent planning step is to:

• (A) Treat the contribution as certain and commit all spending to it
• (B) Plan the core actions on confirmed funds, and phase the dependent actions until the contribution is secured
• (C) Cancel the whole plan
• (D) Borrow the full amount immediately

Q45. A planning committee includes a district officer, but the officer dominates every decision and local staff stop contributing. The participation principle most clearly violated is that planning should be:

• (A) Decided by the most senior person present
• (B) Completed as quickly as possible
• (C) Kept within the headteacher’s office
• (D) Genuinely shared, with local knowledge and ownership respected

Q46. A school launches its plan with a staff meeting, named coordinators, a timetable of actions and a first review date. These steps matter most for:

• (A) Writing the vision statement
• (B) Choosing the school motto
• (C) Printing the plan document
• (D) Implementation, turning the written plan into organized, dated action

Q47. During implementation, a coordinator reports that reading groups are meeting but attendance is low. The headteacher’s best immediate response is to:

• (A) Abandon the reading priority at once
• (B) Investigate the cause of low attendance and adjust timing, venue or communication
• (C) Increase the number of reading groups
• (D) Wait until year end to mention the problem

Q48. A school monitors its plan with monthly attendance figures, termly test results and a brief coordinator report. This monitoring system is sound mainly because it uses:

• (A) Regular, varied indicators tied to the plan’s targets, not a single year-end figure
• (B) Data collected only by the headteacher
• (C) Figures that are never shared with staff
• (D) Reports written after the school year ends

Q49. A plan target is missed, and the review finds that the action was never started because two departments each thought the other was responsible. The review lesson is about:

• (A) The need for a larger budget
• (B) The need for more ambitious targets
• (C) Clear assignment of responsibility in the plan, so no action falls between departments
• (D) The need for a new school building

Q50. At the annual review, a school finds one priority fully achieved, one partly achieved and one untouched. The most honest review report will:

• (A) Record all three outcomes accurately, with reasons, and propose next steps for each
• (B) Report only the achieved priority
• (C) Claim all three as achieved
• (D) Blame the untouched priority on pupils

Q51. A school revises its plan mid-year after a new district policy changes examination subjects. This revision is justified because plans must respond to:

• (A) The personal taste of the headteacher
• (B) Pressure from a single parent
• (C) Fashion in school management books
• (D) Changed policy and conditions that alter what the school must achieve

Q52. Which practice best prevents a revised plan from confusing staff?

• (A) Changing targets quietly without telling anyone
• (B) Recording the change, its reason and its new deadlines, and communicating it to all affected staff
• (C) Keeping both old and new versions in circulation
• (D) Revising the plan every week without explanation

Q53. A school evaluates its plan and finds that a costly activity produced little improvement, while a cheap mentoring scheme produced large gains. The planning implication is to:

• (A) Repeat the costly activity next year unchanged
• (B) Cut both activities to save money
• (C) Shift resources toward the effective approach and redesign or drop the ineffective one
• (D) Ignore the evaluation and follow habit

Q54. A headteacher judges a plan solely by whether its activities were held, ignoring whether pupils improved. This judgement is incomplete because plan success is ultimately measured by:

• (A) The number of meetings held
• (B) The neatness of the plan document
• (C) The amount of money spent
• (D) Outcomes for pupils, such as learning, attendance and retention, not activities alone

Q55. In the next planning cycle, a school keeps its successful reading programme, drops an ineffective workshop series, and adds support for mathematics. This shows the planning cycle working as:

• (A) A loop, in which evaluation of one cycle shapes the priorities of the next
• (B) A sequence in which each cycle’s targets are set higher than the last regardless of evaluation
• (C) A cycle that repeats the same priorities each year with only minor wording changes
• (D) A process that ends once the first evaluation report is published

Q56. A school’s plan review is attended only by senior staff, although teachers and parents carried out much of the work. The review is weaker because it lacks:

• (A) A larger meeting room
• (B) The views of the implementers and stakeholders whose experience explains what happened
• (C) A longer agenda
• (D) More printed copies of the plan

Q57. When a plan is revised, which change requires the most careful handling?

• (A) Correcting a typing error in the plan document
• (B) Changing the date of a staff meeting
• (C) Changing a priority or target, because it affects staffing, budgets and staff expectations
• (D) Adding a photograph to the cover

Q58. A school that monitors its plan monthly, reviews it termly and revises it annually is best described as practising:

• (A) Continuous plan management, with checking and adjustment built into the cycle
• (B) Planning as a one-time event
• (C) Inspection without follow-up
• (D) Budgeting without targets

Q59. A final evaluation report recommends that the next plan focus on teacher mentoring rather than new equipment. The headteacher should treat this recommendation as:

• (A) A binding order that cannot be questioned
• (B) Evidence to weigh in the next planning cycle, alongside fresh data and stakeholder views
• (C) A reason to ignore all other evidence
• (D) A document to file unread

Q60. The ultimate test of a school plan, after implementation, monitoring and review, is whether it has:

• (A) Been printed and filed on time
• (B) Been praised by visitors
• (C) Improved the school in the ways its priorities promised, for the pupils it serves
• (D) Spent its full budget exactly