diff --git a/dotcom-rendering/src/client/islands/getPriority.ts b/dotcom-rendering/src/client/islands/getPriority.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7fd2748f9b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dotcom-rendering/src/client/islands/getPriority.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import type { Priority } from '../../lib/scheduler';
+import { isValidSchedulerPriority } from '../../lib/scheduler';
+
+/**
+ * getPriority takes the given html element and returns its priority attribute
+ *
+ * We expect the element to always be a `gu-*` custom element
+ *
+ * @param marker : The html element that we want to read the priority attribute from;
+ * @returns
+ */
+export const getPriority = (marker: HTMLElement): Priority | undefined => {
+	const priority = marker.getAttribute('priority');
+
+	if (isValidSchedulerPriority(priority)) {
+		return priority;
+	}
+
+	console.error(
+		'Unable to find valid priority attribute on gu-island',
+		marker,
+	);
+
+	return;
+};
diff --git a/dotcom-rendering/src/client/islands/initHydration.ts b/dotcom-rendering/src/client/islands/initHydration.ts
index b8b2bdbec25..196a3e40b98 100644
--- a/dotcom-rendering/src/client/islands/initHydration.ts
+++ b/dotcom-rendering/src/client/islands/initHydration.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 import type { EmotionCache } from '@emotion/cache';
+import { isUndefined } from '@guardian/libs';
+import { schedule } from '../../lib/scheduler';
 import { doHydration } from './doHydration';
 import { getConfig } from './getConfig';
 import { getName } from './getName';
+import { getPriority } from './getPriority';
 import { getProps } from './getProps';
 import { onInteraction } from './onInteraction';
 import { onNavigation } from './onNavigation';
@@ -38,51 +41,41 @@ export const initHydration = async (
 	const name = getName(element);
 	const props = getProps(element);
 	const config = getConfig(element);
+	const priority = getPriority(element);
 
 	if (!name) return;
+	if (isUndefined(priority)) return;
+
+	const scheduleHydration = () =>
+		schedule(
+			name,
+			() => doHydration(name, props, element, emotionCache, config),
+			{ priority },
+		);
 
 	const deferUntil = element.getAttribute('deferuntil');
 	switch (deferUntil) {
 		case 'idle': {
-			whenIdle(() => {
-				void doHydration(name, props, element, emotionCache, config);
-			});
+			whenIdle(() => void scheduleHydration());
 			return;
 		}
 		case 'visible': {
 			const rootMargin = element.getAttribute('rootmargin') ?? undefined;
-			whenVisible(
-				element,
-				() => {
-					void doHydration(
-						name,
-						props,
-						element,
-						emotionCache,
-						config,
-					);
-				},
-				{ rootMargin },
-			);
+			whenVisible(element, () => void scheduleHydration(), {
+				rootMargin,
+			});
 			return;
 		}
 		case 'interaction': {
-			onInteraction(element, (targetElement) => {
-				void doHydration(
-					name,
-					props,
-					element,
-					emotionCache,
-					config,
-				).then(() => {
-					targetElement.dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('click'));
-				});
+			onInteraction(element, async (targetElement) => {
+				await scheduleHydration();
+				targetElement.dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent('click'));
 			});
 			return;
 		}
 		case 'hash': {
 			if (window.location.hash.includes(name) || hasLightboxHash(name)) {
-				void doHydration(name, props, element, emotionCache, config);
+				return scheduleHydration();
 			} else {
 				// If we didn't find a matching hash on page load, set a
 				// listener so that we check again each time the reader
@@ -92,20 +85,14 @@ export const initHydration = async (
 						window.location.hash.includes(name) ||
 						hasLightboxHash(name)
 					) {
-						void doHydration(
-							name,
-							props,
-							element,
-							emotionCache,
-							config,
-						);
+						void scheduleHydration();
 					}
 				});
 			}
 			return;
 		}
 		default: {
-			return doHydration(name, props, element, emotionCache, config);
+			return scheduleHydration();
 		}
 	}
 };
diff --git a/dotcom-rendering/src/client/islands/onInteraction.ts b/dotcom-rendering/src/client/islands/onInteraction.ts
index d06bc73fd8c..5d6599ca54f 100644
--- a/dotcom-rendering/src/client/islands/onInteraction.ts
+++ b/dotcom-rendering/src/client/islands/onInteraction.ts
@@ -7,13 +7,13 @@
  */
 export const onInteraction = (
 	element: HTMLElement,
-	callback: (e: HTMLElement) => void,
+	callback: (e: HTMLElement) => Promise<void> | void,
 ): void => {
 	element.addEventListener(
 		'click',
 		(e) => {
 			if (e.target instanceof HTMLElement) {
-				callback(e.target);
+				void callback(e.target);
 			}
 		},
 		{ once: true },
diff --git a/dotcom-rendering/src/lib/scheduler.ts b/dotcom-rendering/src/lib/scheduler.ts
index fc14138ef09..ee7b243d60d 100644
--- a/dotcom-rendering/src/lib/scheduler.ts
+++ b/dotcom-rendering/src/lib/scheduler.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import { startPerformanceMeasure } from '@guardian/libs';
+import type { Guard } from './guard';
+import { guard } from './guard';
 
 const START = Date.now();
 
@@ -22,9 +24,11 @@ let CONCURRENCY_COUNT = Infinity;
  * priorities, and the scheduler will prefer the priority with the lowest index.
  **/
 const PRIORITIES = ['critical', 'feature', 'enhancement'] as const;
-type Priority = (typeof PRIORITIES)[number];
+export type Priority = Guard<typeof PRIORITIES>;
 export type SchedulePriority = { [K in Priority]: K };
 
+export const isValidSchedulerPriority = guard(PRIORITIES);
+
 /**
  * A thing that a consumer want to do. Should be a function that returns a promise.
  */