DBE workbooks are free learner worksheets from the Department of Basic Education. Teachers use them with the CAPS subject file and the Annual Teaching Plan, not instead of those documents.
The official name on the Department site is Rainbow Workbooks for the first six grades. The same workbook programme also publishes Grade R to Grade 9 files. This CAPS123 page explains how to find the current official books. It is not an official Department of Basic Education publication.
If you need the official file now
The official index still also lists the 2025 Terms 1 and 2 set. Use the current official file for the term you are teaching. Do not treat a 2023 CAPS123 download page as the latest official set.
What the official workbooks are
On the Department’s workbook page:
- Each workbook has 128 worksheets, organised as four worksheets a week over eight weeks in a term.
- The books are written to comply with CAPS.
- A Grade 1 to 9 learner gets two workbooks a year for each listed subject: Book 1 for January to June, Book 2 for July to December.
- A Grade R learner gets four books a year, one for each term.
- The books are free. Learners keep them and may write in them.
- They do not replace textbooks.
The current official Terms 1 and 2 index lists literacy, life skills and numeracy in the Foundation Phase, literacy and numeracy in the Intermediate Phase, and numeracy in Grades 7 to 9. Open the official page for the exact language and file you need. Rainbow Workbooks for the first six grades are published in all official languages.
Workbook, CAPS and the ATP
| Document | What it is for |
|---|---|
| CAPS | The subject policy: content, skills and assessment |
| ATP | The year’s teaching sequence for that subject and grade |
| DBE workbook | Practice worksheets that sit beside the textbook, not in place of it |
See What is CAPS? and What are Annual Teaching Plans if you need those first.
How to use a workbook this week
- Open the official file for your grade, subject and term from the DBE links above.
- Match the week to your ATP, then choose the worksheets that fit the CAPS topic you are teaching.
- Use the workbook for practice, not as the whole lesson. The Department says the books save teachers from writing every exercise, and that they should be used with textbooks.
- Let learners write in their own books. They keep them at the end of the year.
What this page does not do
- It does not host the official PDFs. Download them from the Department site.
- It does not provide answer keys. Queries for a teacher guide belong on the separate DBE workbooks teacher guide page, and that page is not the official file list.
- It does not turn Mind the Gap study guides or graded readers into workbooks. Those are separate official LTSM.
Related CAPS123 pages
- What is CAPS? The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement
- What are Annual Teaching Plans
- CAPS Terms Glossary for Teachers
- DBE workbooks teacher guide
- Older CAPS123 2023 workbook list
The official DBE index is the current source for which workbook still applies.