Beyond Blocking: Interleaving in FE & Skills

Introduction

Many curricula are structured logically: teach Topic A until learners get it, then move to Topic B, and so on. This is known as 'blocked practice'. While it can create a feeling of rapid progress, research shows it often leads to short-term recall but poor long-term retention.

An alternative, evidence-based approach is interleaving. This strategy involves mixing up different but related topics during practice sessions. It might feel harder for learners initially, but this 'desirable difficulty' is key to building deeper, more flexible knowledge that directly impacts achievement.

What Is Interleaving (and Why Use It)?

Interleaving is the opposite of blocked practice. Instead of drilling one skill or concept repeatedly before moving on, you mix different skills or concepts within a single practice session.

Imagine learning to identify different types of wood. Blocked practice would involve studying only oak for 30 minutes, then only pine for 30 minutes. Interleaving would involve looking at samples of oak, pine, and mahogany mixed together and identifying each one. This forces the brain to constantly retrieve information and distinguish between concepts, rather than just repeating a single procedure.

This method directly supports key aspects of the 'Achievement' evaluation area by helping learners to:

• Develop a more robust and flexible understanding of their subject.
• Get better at problem-solving by learning to select the right strategy for a given task.
• Improve long-term retention of knowledge and skills, making them more durable for future study and employment.

Practical Examples of Interleaving

Interleaving can be applied across all provision types, from vocational workshops to academic classrooms and apprenticeship training. The key is to mix related concepts that learners might confuse.

• In a plumbing apprenticeship: Instead of a lesson solely on soldering copper pipes, a practice session could include tasks on soldering, using compression fittings, and identifying correct pipe sizes for different applications. This forces apprentices to decide which technique is appropriate for each job.
• In a Health and Social Care course: A case study session could be designed to require learners to apply knowledge of safeguarding, communication theories, and person-centred care principles simultaneously, rather than tackling each topic in isolation.
• In a GCSE Maths resit class: A revision worksheet should not just have a block of ten questions on fractions. Instead, it should interleave questions on fractions, percentages, and ratios, forcing learners to recall and apply the correct method for each problem.
• In an ESOL class: Instead of practising only the past simple tense, a speaking activity could require learners to switch between the past simple, present perfect, and future tenses to describe their life experiences and future plans.

Combining Interleaving with Spaced Practice

Interleaving works best when combined with another cognitive science principle: spaced practice. This means revisiting topics at increasing intervals over time. While interleaving is about how you structure a single study session, spacing is about how you schedule multiple sessions.

A simple model could look like this:

1. Week 1: Teach Topic A (e.g., Customer Service - Handling Complaints).
2. Week 2: Teach Topic B (e.g., Customer Service - Processing Refunds) and include a short, interleaved activity that features both complaint handling and refund scenarios.
3. Week 4: Teach Topic C (e.g., Up-selling Products) and run a role-play session that interleaves scenarios from Topics A, B, and C.
4. Week 8: Hold a cumulative review session that requires learners to draw on all the customer service skills learned to date.

This systematic revisiting prevents knowledge from fading and strengthens recall over the long term.

Overcoming the Challenges

Implementing interleaving requires a thoughtful approach and communication with learners. It's important to anticipate and manage potential hurdles.

• It feels harder: Learners often prefer blocked practice because it feels easier and they see immediate performance gains. You must explain that the struggle they feel during interleaved practice is a sign that durable learning is happening.
• It requires planning: Tutors cannot simply work through a textbook from front to back. Curriculum plans need to be designed to identify opportunities to mix and revisit topics logically throughout the programme.
• It changes assessment: To be effective, low-stakes formative assessments like quizzes and starters should also be interleaved. This prepares learners for summative assessments, which naturally require them to retrieve and apply knowledge from across the whole curriculum.

Where this fits in QualityHero

Embedding cognitive science principles like interleaving is a powerful way to enhance 'Curriculum, teaching and training' and evidence exceptional 'Achievement'. Within QualityHero, you can use the Toolkit Areas module to build and share resources on interleaving, creating a consistent pedagogical approach across your teams. Evidence of its impact, gathered through work scrutiny or professional dialogue and logged in the SAR or QIP modules, can powerfully demonstrate how your provider is actively using evidence-based practice to improve learner outcomes.