Course guides › Grade 7 › Life Orientation
Life Orientation (LO) helps learners manage their own lives: who they are, how to stay healthy and safe, how to live with others in a democracy, how to think about careers, and how to stay active. In Grade 7 it replaces the Intermediate Phase Life Skills subject.
This guide explains the CAPS topic areas.
Course status: coming soon. We are still building the Grade 7 Life Orientation (CAPS) course, so it can’t be bought yet. This guide explains what the CAPS curriculum covers this year, so you can use it now. The planned price is R100 per subject per year.
What’s covered: the CAPS topic areas
The DBE’s Annual Teaching Plan sets the detailed topics and their order term by term, and your child’s school follows it. This guide gives the broad picture of each part of the subject.
Development of the self in society
Who you are, your relationships, and coping with change.
Health, social and environmental responsibility
Healthy and safe choices, and caring for your community and the environment.
Constitutional rights and responsibilities
Human rights, responsibilities and respect for diversity in South Africa.
World of work
Interests, abilities, careers and study skills.
Physical Education
Fitness, games and sport.
Key ideas, with worked examples
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is how you value yourself. Recognising your strengths and setting small goals builds it.
Worked example. “I’m good at drawing, and this term I’ll finish one sketch a week.”
Study skills
Spaced practice and summarising beat last-minute cramming.
Worked example. Twenty minutes a day for five days is better than two hours the night before.
Common mistakes (and how to fix them)
- Answering personal-reflection questions with one word.
- Treating LO as optional; it is a compulsory subject with formal tasks.
- Skipping Physical Education.
Tips for parents
- Agree a routine, then step back. Senior Phase learners like to work on their own; check in on the week’s work rather than every page.
- Talk about careers you and family friends have.
- Keep discussions about peer pressure, social media and safety open.
- Stay active together.
Frequently asked questions
Is LO assessed?
Yes. CAPS includes written tasks, projects and Physical Education assessment in Life Orientation.
How much will the Grade 7 Life Orientation course cost?
R100 per subject per year once it opens. Like our live courses, it will be one course for the whole year with Terms 1 to 4 inside it, so there’s nothing extra to pay per term.
When will the course be ready?
We’re building it now. The Grade 7 Life Orientation card on our home page shows “Coming soon” until the course is ready, and then it changes to “Open course”.
Will it work on a phone, and will it use a lot of data?
Yes, it will work on a phone. Like our live Maths courses, it will open in a phone’s web browser or in the free Coursebox app for Android and iPhone. Lessons are pictures and short text with quizzes and no videos, so it uses little data.
Is the course in English or Afrikaans?
The Grade 7 course will be in English.
Get ready for Grade 7 Life Orientation
The Grade 7 Life Orientation (CAPS) course is coming soon at R100 per subject per year. Bookmark this guide and use the overview above to follow what your child is doing at school. While you wait, our Grade 7 Mathematics course is available through Coursebox.
Back to the Grade 7 course cards · All Grade 7 guides
Sources and review
This guide follows the broad structure of the DBE’s CAPS Life Orientation curriculum for the Senior Phase (Grades 7–9). Detailed topics and their order are set by the DBE’s Annual Teaching Plan, which your child’s school follows. Last reviewed: 31 October 2026. AI Buddies is an independent project and is not endorsed by the Department of Basic Education.