If we want learning to stick, not just happen in the moment, we need to think carefully about embedding. In the Great Teaching Toolkit: Evidence Review, Element 4.5 describes embedding as the deliberate work teachers do to help students practise, revisit, and secure learning over time.

It’s the difference between students being able to do something once and being able to do it reliably, fluently, and independently later.

What the research says

The Great Teaching Toolkit: Evidence Review (Coe et al., 2020) tells us that forgetting is normal but can be slowed or prevented by periodic revisiting and review. It suggests that there are numerous ways that great teachers embed learning, including:

• Practice to develop accuracy and fluency
• Repetition over time to prevent forgetting
• Review and revisiting to ensure knowledge remains accessible

These conclusions come directly from research conclusions:

Retrieving information from memory strengthens learning more than simply re-studying it. Although re-reading can boost short-term performance, retrieval leads to much better long-term retention.
(Roediger & Karpicke, 2006).

Performance during practice is a poor proxy for long-term learning. Students may appear successful in the moment, but without deliberate embedding, learning is likely to be lost.
(Bjork & Soderstrom, 2015)

Signs you might want to work on embedding

Most teachers will recognise some of these moments. Students seem confident during the lesson, but the learning does not always last beyond it.

You might notice that:

• Students can do it in the lesson… but not next week
• You find yourself reteaching the same content
• Practice feels rushed and learning moves on too quickly for some students
• Retrieval tasks show patchy understanding
• Students struggle to use prior learning independently

These are often signals that students need more opportunities to revisit, retrieve, and practise learning over time.

Classroom strategies to consider

1.Spaced retrieval

Build in regular opportunities for students to retrieve prior learning after a gap.

How to implement it:

• Identify the key knowledge you want students to retain (e.g. last lesson, last week, last unit)
• Plan 3–5 short retrieval questions at the start of lessons
• Include a mix of recent and older content (not just last lesson)
• Ask students to answer from memory (no notes)
• Provide quick feedback or whole-class review

Keep it low-stakes and routine. The goal is not assessment, but strengthening memory through effortful recall over time.

2. Cycles of deliberate practice

Move beyond one-off practice by planning multiple cycles of practice and feedback.

How to implement it:

• Model the process or skill clearly
• Provide guided practice (e.g. worked examples, prompts)
• Move to independent practice
• Give specific feedback (whole-class or individual)
• Set a second round of practice, slightly varied

Avoid stopping once students ‘get it right’ once. The aim is to build fluency and reliability, not just initial success.

3. Interleaving

Design practice so students have to think about what to do, not just repeat a method.

How to implement it:

• Mix different question types within a task or homework
• Combine new content with previously learned material
• Avoid long blocks of identical questions
• Explain to students why the practice might feel harder and how that supports long-term learning

That difficulty is useful: it helps students select, apply, and retain knowledge more effectively.

Embedding is not an add-on. It sits at the heart of effective teaching. By deliberately planning for practice, revisiting, and retrieval, we shift the focus from what students can do now to what they will remember and use later. In the end, great teaching isn’t just about delivering content; it’s about making learning last.

You can explore these strategies in more depth in our Embedding course within the Great Teaching Toolkit. You can also gather feedback from students and colleagues on how effectively embedding is being used in your classroom, while accessing hundreds of practical resources and classroom techniques to support the ongoing development of your practice.

 

References

Coe, R., Rauch, C. J., Kime, S., & Singleton, D. (2020). Evidence Based Education. Great teaching toolkit: Evidence Review.

Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-Enhanced Learning. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x

Soderstrom, N. C., & Bjork, R. A. (2015). Learning versus performance. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(2), 176–199. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691615569000