Personalised education

Who gets left out by the average lesson?

A shared timetable helped make mass education possible. It also asks a teacher to meet children at very different points with one lesson. A pupil ready for more demanding work can wait as long as a pupil who needs a concept explained another way. In a randomised trial across 63 English schools, adaptive maths tutoring alongside ordinary teaching produced about one additional month of progress on average. A modest result, but one measured in learning rather than screen time.

We’re interested in a curriculum that can change its pace, explanation and assessment as a learner’s understanding changes. A diagram, spoken explanation or worked example should be available because it helps with this task, without assigning the child a fixed “learning style”. The teacher remains the coach and decision-maker: choosing when to challenge, when to revisit a foundation, and when the system’s picture of a pupil is wrong.