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PLC Programming Curriculum for Educators & Schools

A ready-to-teach, browser-based PLC programming curriculum — ladder logic, timers, counters, and real industrial automation machine scenarios — that runs on any school computer or Chromebook. No install, no IT roll-out, and no per-seat industrial software licence. Assign a scenario, students practise programmable logic controller code in the browser, and the simulator auto-grades every attempt.

Run your first PLC program — no signupRequest institutional access

To be clear: this is a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) programming curriculum for industrial automation and electrical engineering — ladder logic and IEC 61131-3 — not a generic teaching framework or professional-learning-community model.

Join 15500+ learners practicing PLC programming

See how it maps to your program → — competency mapping for associate-degree, mechatronics & apprenticeship programmes, plus a free PDF pack.

Teaching a class? Create a free instructor account or set up your classroom.

Short answer

Is there a ready-made PLC curriculum for schools with student progress tracking?

Yes. PLC Simulation Software includes a ready-to-teach PLC curriculum that runs in the browser: a 12-lesson core course taught in 9 PLC styles, quizzes, wiring and fault-finding labs, and graded machine scenarios. You create a class, assign work, and see each student’s progress, completions and scores in one view. Classes are free to create with the free lessons; the class plan is $49 per student per year with a minimum of 10 students, for education only. The curriculum mapping pack is a starting point for your own outcomes, not an accredited crosswalk.

PLC curriculum for schools at a glance
Content12 core lessons in 9 PLC styles, 12 quizzes, 29 wiring labs, 19 fault-finding labs, 170 graded scenarios
Progress trackingPer-student progress, timestamped completions, scores and portfolio PDF exports
Free classFree to create. Students get the free lessons and free graded scenarios
Class plan$49 per student per year, minimum 10 students, for schools and colleges only
Company training teamsTeams Pro seats at $199 per seat per year, minimum 5 seats

See the whole thing in two and a half minutes

Empty organisation to invited students, an assigned learning path, an auto-graded run, and the live instructor dashboard.

PLC Training for Teams — Setup to Graded Work in 10 Minutes

Why instructors choose it

A PLC programming curriculum built for the realities of teaching

Teaching programmable logic controller programming is hard for reasons that have nothing to do with the subject. Desktop PLC software runs only on Windows, needs IT to install it on every machine, and locks each student to a single lab computer. Hardware trainers cost hundreds of dollars per student and a 30-seat cohort is simply not fundable. And every ladder logic exercise has to be checked by hand. This curriculum removes all three problems so a PLC instructor can spend class time teaching, not troubleshooting.

No install, no IT overhead

The entire PLC curriculum runs in the browser. There is nothing for IT to install, no admin rights required, and no license keys to distribute. A new class can be writing ladder logic within minutes of logging in.

Auto-graded scenarios mean less marking

Every scenario runs the student's ladder logic against test cases and grades it pass/fail automatically. Students get immediate feedback; the instructor sees who has mastered timers, counters, and interlocks without collecting and marking a single file by hand.

Runs on Chromebooks, Macs and Linux

Because it is browser-based, the curriculum runs on Chromebooks, Macs, Windows PCs, and Linux machines alike. Whatever your computer lab or Chromebook cart runs, every student gets the full programmable logic controller environment.

IEC 61131-3 plus vendor dialects

Students learn IEC 61131-3 ladder logic first, then switch the same program between Allen-Bradley-style and Siemens-style addressing and instruction names — plus Mitsubishi, Omron, KEYENCE KV, Schneider, Delta, and Instruction List — so skills transfer to any brand they meet in industry.

A structured beginner-to-advanced path

The curriculum is sequenced from first principles — contacts, coils, and seal-in circuits — through timers and counters to multi-step machine sequencing and fault diagnosis. Assign the path to a cohort and progress is tracked automatically.

Real machine scenarios, not abstract puzzles

Conveyor sorting, traffic light sequencing, motor star-delta starters, tank level control — each scenario is framed around recognisable industrial automation equipment, bridging classroom theory to the kind of work graduates actually do.

The curriculum, lesson by lesson

A visual map of what you can assign

The PLC programming curriculum is sequenced from first principles to multi-step machine control. Every concept below is a lesson or scenario you can assign and the simulator auto-grades — so students build each idea in the browser and you see who has mastered it without marking a single file by hand.

PLC architecture in the educator curriculum — CPU, input modules, output modules and field devices — the first lesson instructors assign to a classA modular PLC rack on a backplane: power supply, CPU processor, input module, output module and a communications module side by side.PLC RACKbackplane busPSUPowerCPUProcessorDIInputDOOutputNETComms
Lesson 1 — what a PLC is: CPU, inputs, outputs, and field devices.
The PLC scan cycle in the educator curriculum — read inputs, execute the ladder program, update outputs, repeat — the concept that makes ladder logic make sense to studentsThe repeating PLC scan cycle: read inputs, execute the ladder logic, update outputs, then housekeeping, looping continuously.1Read Inputs2Execute Logic3Update Outputs4HousekeepingSCANCYCLE
The scan cycle — the single idea that makes ladder logic click for a class.
Ladder logic symbols taught in the educator curriculum — normally-open and normally-closed contacts, output coils, set and reset coils — the symbol set students read and writeThe core ladder logic symbols side by side: XIC examine-if-closed, XIO examine-if-open, OTE output energize, OTL output latch and OTU output unlatch.XICIfXIOIfOTEEnergizeLOTLLatchUOTUUnlatch
The ladder symbol set — the alphabet every scenario is built from.
A student's first ladder logic rung in the educator curriculum — a normally-open contact driving an output coil — auto-graded in the browser so instructors skip manual markingA basic ladder logic rung between two power rails: an examine-if-closed contact (XIC) in series driving an output coil (OTE).L1L2] [StartXIC I:0/0LampOTE O:0/0
The first graded rung — a contact driving a coil, scored instantly.
An IEC TON on-delay timer timing chart in the educator curriculum — the instruction behind the traffic-light sequencing scenario students are assigned and graded onA TON on-delay timer: the accumulated time bar ramps up toward the preset value, and the done (DN) bit turns on when the accumulator reaches preset.TONPRE 5000ACCACC ramps to PREPREDNdone bit
Timers (TON / TOF) — the instruction behind the traffic-light scenario.
An IEC CTU up-counter in the educator curriculum — the instruction students use to count parts in the conveyor-sort scenario, auto-graded in the browserA CTU count-up counter: each input pulse increments the accumulator toward the preset, and the done (DN) bit turns on when count reaches preset.count pulsesCTUPRE 5ACC 3ACCcount toward presetDNdone bit
Counters (CTU / CTD) — used to count parts in conveyor-sort scenarios.
The five IEC 61131-3 languages in the educator curriculum — Ladder, Function Block, Structured Text, SFC and Instruction List — taught so students' skills transfer across vendor brandsThe five IEC 61131-3 PLC programming languages as chips: Ladder Diagram, Function Block Diagram, Structured Text, Instruction List and Sequential Function Chart.IEC 61131-3 — five languagesLDLadder DiagramFBDFunction BlockSTStructured TextILInstruction ListSFCSequential Func. Chart
IEC 61131-3 breadth — students learn the standard, then map it to any vendor.
IEC 61131-3 Structured Text in the educator curriculum — a high-level textual PLC language for advanced students moving beyond ladder logicA small Structured Text code block in an editor: an IF/THEN condition, a TON timer call and assignments, showing text-based PLC programming.main.st — Structured Text1IF Start AND NOT Stop THEN2 Run := TRUE;3END_IF;4DelayTmr(IN := Run, PT := T#5s);5Lamp := DelayTmr.Q;
Structured Text — the next step for advanced students beyond ladder logic.

How it works for a class

Three steps from lesson plan to graded progress

1

Assign scenarios

Pick from the structured PLC programming curriculum or build a path that matches your scheme of work. Assign a ladder logic scenario — or a whole sequence — to your cohort from the instructor admin console.

2

Students practice in the browser

Each student logs in on any school computer or Chromebook and writes real ladder logic against the scenario. No install, no shared lab machine, no booking system — they can keep practicing at home on the same account.

3

Auto-graded progress

The simulator runs each submission against test cases and grades it pass/fail instantly. You see cohort and per-student progress at a glance, and students export a portfolio PDF of timestamped completions for assessment.

Teaching with simulation software

How do you teach a PLC course with simulation software?

Teach the concepts in class, then assign auto-graded simulator scenarios as the lab work. Students write real ladder logic in the browser — no install, any device — while the simulator marks every attempt against test cases and reports each student's progress to your dashboard. You keep the teaching; the software runs the lab and the marking.

For lesson-by-lesson material, pair the curriculum with the free PLC lab manual — structured labs with objectives, procedures, and assessment criteria, each mapped one-to-one to a scenario the simulator grades, so every lab ends with students running their own program in the browser.

Set up a class in 10 minutes

  1. 1

    Create your organization

    Go to /org/signup and enter an organization name plus your own name and email. It creates a free organization with you as owner — no card, no trial clock.

  2. 2

    Invite your class by email

    From the team console’s Members page, invite each student (or a co-instructor as an admin) by email address. Every student gets an invitation link; seats are pooled and reassignable, so removing a student who withdraws frees the seat for a replacement.

  3. 3

    Build a learning path

    In the Paths builder, order lessons and scenarios — including any org-private custom scenarios you author — into the sequence that matches your scheme of work.

  4. 4

    Assign the path to your cohort

    Select the members to assign it to. From there, every scenario submission is auto-graded against test cases the moment a student hits Run.

  5. 5

    Teach — and watch the dashboard

    The team Overview shows each student’s lessons completed, scenarios completed, total attempts and last-active date, with class-level rollups — so you see who is behind before an assessment, not after.

“Every instructor I talk to has the same bottleneck: marking. Thirty ladder programs, each one needing to be loaded, run and checked by hand. The simulator does that part in seconds, every attempt, every time — which frees the instructor to go and teach the two students who are actually stuck.”

— Paul, creator of plcsimulationsoftware.com

Classroom & site licensing

Bring PLC training to your whole class or campus

A free organisation supports one instructor and up to four learners using the Free-tier lessons and introductory scenarios, so you can evaluate access, auto-grading and reporting before committing. When you are ready to run the complete Pro curriculum across a class, programme or site, managed access gives each paid seat Pro content plus a shared, reassignable seat pool, class/site groups, and consolidated reporting you can filter by group.

Seats are reassignable — if a student withdraws mid-term, that seat moves to a replacement student rather than going to waste. Managed Teams access is $199 per seat per year, billed annually, with a five-seat minimum. Bulk and academic quotations are available. If procurement needs a purchase order, download an instant quote PDF from the procurement page or email us before payment.

Talk to us about classroom & site licensing

Tell us your class size, the program you teach, and whether you need a purchase order or quotation. We’ll set up the right institutional access for your school, college, or training center.

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For every kind of institution

PLC training for schools, colleges, and training providers

Whether you are a single high-school PLC instructor, a college running a mechatronics programme, or an employer training apprentices, there is a tailored view of the same browser-based PLC programming curriculum for your context:

For teachers — free class and the per-student Class planFor teams & institutions — overviewPLC simulator for TVET & vocational collegesPLC simulator for universitiesPLC simulator for studentsPLC simulator for training centersPLC training for employers & maintenance teamsPLC technician certificate pathFree PLC lab manual — labs mapped to graded scenarios
Questions

PLC curriculum for educators FAQ

Yes. PLC Simulation Software is a ready-to-teach programmable logic controller (PLC) programming curriculum that runs entirely in a web browser. It covers ladder logic fundamentals, timers and counters, and real industrial automation scenarios in a structured beginner-to-advanced path. Instructors assign scenarios; students practice in the browser; the simulator auto-grades each attempt. There is nothing to install and no per-seat industrial software license to buy, so a class can start on day one.

Teach PLC programming without the install, the license, or the marking.

A ready-to-teach ladder logic curriculum that runs on any Chromebook or school PC and auto-grades every student. Create a free instructor account and assign your first scenario today.

Create a free instructor accountRequest institutional access

Competency and practice field guide

PLC curriculum for educators: practice plan

Direct answer

The educator can map competencies to instruction, guided practice, independent scenarios, changed cases and defensible evidence.

Written for college, training-centre and employer instructors building a sequenced PLC curriculum with runnable assessment.

Adult learners and an instructor using PLC racks and laptops while studying evidence-based PLC course design in an industrial automation lab
System map / 02

NODE 01observable

Scope

Learner baseline, program outcomes, contact time, devices, accessibility, hardware, staff, assessment, privacy and qualification boundary.

NODE 02observable

Signal path

Competency statements through lessons, demonstrations, runnable labs, fault cases, rubrics and retained learner evidence.

NODE 03observable

Baseline practice

One complete input-logic-output-feedback task independently completed and explained against a rubric.

NODE 04observable

Edge cases

Seat-time grading, solution leakage, inaccessible tools, weak feedback, hardware scarcity, vendor lock-in and missing physical practice.

NODE 05observable

Fault practice

A prerequisite, concept, implementation, diagnostic, assessment, accessibility or transfer gap.

NODE 06observable

Transfer to the job

Results moderated, curriculum revised and digital evidence combined with supervised physical-lab assessment.

Continue the signal path / 08

Real plc curriculum for educators footage

See this exact skill in the working simulator.

Watch the real browser product respond to the task on this page, then try the same practical workflow yourself. No slides, concept mockups, install, or credit card.

Try this in the browser
PLC Curriculum for Educators — A Browser Lab From Beginner to Advanced

Instructor and virtual-lab path

Connect practical work to curriculum evidence

Evaluate the learner experience, map outcomes, run a representative lab and review the evidence an instructor can retain.