Cognitive science Teacher Choices trial: Using examples to teach grammar to Year 7
02 October 2025
This project evaluated the impact of three approaches to using examples to teach grammar for writing in Year 7 English. Two of the approaches tested were ‘worked examples’, where teachers model how a grammar pattern is constructed, and ask pupils to write their own text using the pattern. These approaches were contrasted with a non-worked example approach, where teachers were asked to discuss the use of the grammar pattern in the examples, and the effect on the reader, but not to use the examples as a model for pupils’ own writing.
Teachers were asked to use their allocated approach for 20 sessions during the summer term, totalling five hours of teaching. Teachers were sent brief written guidance for using their allocated approach and an example session plan. All teachers were sent the same bank of examples, which they could use or adapt as they preferred.
Key Findings
- There was no evidence of meaningful differences between approaches to using examples on pupils’ scores on a genre-specific writing assessment, including for FSM-eligible pupils.
- Teachers in the worked examples approaches perceived that most pupils could successfully use a grammar pattern in their writing when this was highly scaffolded. However, teachers perceived that pupils rarely transferred use of the taught grammar patterns into more general writing tasks, and suggested pupils would need additional support to do so.
- The teaching approaches represented a substantial change to usual practice for many teachers. Teachers reported that a sustained focus on grammar patterns within text was new, particularly elements of worked examples, such as modelling the step-by-step construction of a grammar pattern, or asking pupils to follow that step-by-step construction in their writing.
- Overall, teachers responded positively to the three example approaches, were able to implement them, and felt they met a need to develop grammar teaching in Key Stage 3 English.