International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month

Resource type: Event

Price band: Free

Key stage: KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, KS5

Region(s): All of UK

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8th, during Women’s History Month. Together they provide an opportunity to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women across the globe and to reflect on the work that still needs to be done to achieve gender equality. Each year an annual campaign theme is chosen for International Women’s Day that runs for the entire year. The theme for 2025 is #AccelerateAction.

The International Women’s Day website provides general information about IWD and resources to support it, including:

A selection of resources specifically for schools.
Tips and packs to help you run your own IWD event.
A directory of Women Speakers.
A directory of IWD events.

Cost: Free.

About International Women’s Day: International Women’s Day has been going for over 100 years. The IWD website was launched in 2001 and provides a platform to help forge positive change for women.

Further resources:

Encourage young women to take the lead in their own lives by signing up for The Female Lead Society, a schools programme that provides free resources to prompt discussion around female representation and ambition. Sessions are student-led and the programme is available for primary and secondary schools.
Read The Female Lead Society’s research on social media usage among teenage girls and encourage students to sign up for their #TransformYourFeed challenge to follow people that inspire them, help them develop different interests and make them feel empowered.
Explore the range of International Women’s Day resources from the National Literacy Trust. There are writing, reading and speaking and listening activities for pupils aged 3 – 18. Available with the NLT’s free membership.
Introduce primary pupils to the origins and importance of International Women’s Day with this free, comic-book format resource from National Geographic Kids.
Download ready-to-use lesson plans to spark thought-provoking discussions around real-world issues of gender equality from Topical Talk. Suitable for pupils aged 10+ and available with a free membership.
Books for Topics, CLPE, LoveReading4Kids, Book Trust and Scottish Book Trust are all good sources of book lists that celebrate strong and inspiring female characters.
For younger readers, explore this list of picture books that feature strong, independent girl characters from CLPE.
Celebrate the achievements of women in sport with this selection of books from Best Books for Schools.
Celebrate the achievements of women in science and engineering with this booklist from LoveReading4Kids.
Browse the British Science Association’s #SmashingStereotypes library to find stories of women working in science and engineering today.
Explore a selection of free videos for Women’s History Month from award-winning website TrueTube. Suitable for KS3 and 4.
Browse a collection of articles about some of history’s most inspirational women on Sky History.
Download a free UK Parliament booklet for primary aged children featuring the stories of six women who have influenced laws and equal rights in the UK. There is also a Votes for Women resource pack suitable for pupils aged 7-11 and 11-14.
Check out the free Suffrage in a Box resources from the Bodleian Library. They include reproductions of images and other items from their collections that can be used in source analysis activities with KS3 and 4 pupils.
The Little Rebels Children’s Book Award celebrates books that promote social justice and challenge stereotypes.