This practice guide will help teachers provide varied and spaced opportunities for students to practice their learning.

Varying the ways students practise consolidates learning better than repeatedly practising in the same ways. Spacing out practice over time supports long-term retention and fluent recall by helping to manage cognitive load.

This practice guide will help you understand how to:

  • space and vary the opportunities you provide for students to practice
  • support students to develop and retain knowledge and skills that are adaptable across different contexts and applications
  • model effective retrieval practices so students can adopt these as they gradually take more responsibility for their revision and study routines over time
  • use practice opportunities to monitor progress and inform teaching decisions.

Keywords: student learning, science of learning, teaching practices, how students learn