Strengthening Classroom Teaching to Reduce Learning Gaps

If catch-up support keeps growing, is classroom teaching the place to look first?

When the same learning gaps appear across classes, year groups or cohorts, more intervention may only be part of the answer.

Discover how evidence-informed classroom teaching, purposeful use of assessment and greater instructional consistency can help schools address learning needs earlier.

What you’ll learn

• Spot five signs that classroom teaching may need strengthening, from cognitive overload to inconsistent teaching practice.

• Use assessment data as a school-improvement tool, not simply to identify pupils for additional support.

• Identify patterns across classes, year groups and cohorts that may point to wider teaching or curriculum priorities.

• Build greater instructional consistency while preserving teachers’ professional judgement.

• Strengthen literacy and numeracy foundations through explicit, carefully sequenced and evidence-informed teaching.

Make additional support more sustainable.

The goal isn’t to eliminate intervention. It’s to ensure it is focused where it is genuinely needed.

When assessment and teaching work together effectively, schools can identify misconceptions earlier, strengthen consistency and create a more manageable approach to pupil support.