Why a class of six? What a strict 1:6 maximum changes

A strict maximum of six gives every child time to speak, to have their work read closely and to be known by their educator. Research on small-group tuition supports this: the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) finds that small groups work well, and that effectiveness tends to fall once groups grow beyond six or seven.

What does research say about small groups?

The EEF’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit defines small-group tuition as one teacher working with two to five pupils, and reports an average impact of about four months’ additional progress. It notes that “as a rule of thumb, the smaller the group the better”, and that “once group size increases above six or seven there is a noticeable reduction in effectiveness” (EEF, Small group tuition).

The EEF is just as clear that size alone is not enough. On class size more broadly, it says smaller classes “only impact upon learning if the reduced numbers allow teachers to teach differently”, for example through higher-quality interaction and more feedback (EEF, Reducing class size).

What changes for a child in a group of six?

More time to talk

In a study for Singapore’s National Institute of Education, Rita Silver found that whole-class, teacher-fronted activity made up 79% of the participation patterns observed in the lower-primary lessons studied (Silver, 2008). In a large class, most children speak only now and then. In a group of six, every child can speak several times in a lesson, which matters for spoken English and for PSLE Oral.

Feedback while the work is happening

The EEF rates feedback among the highest-impact approaches in its Toolkit, at about six months’ additional progress on average (EEF, Feedback). With six children, an educator can read a paragraph as it is being written and help straight away, rather than days later in red ink.

Being known

Observational research from UCL found that in smaller classes pupils received more individual attention and had more active interactions with their teachers (Blatchford, Bassett and Brown, 2011). Over a term, an educator with six children learns how each one thinks, where they hesitate and what helps.

Why not one-to-one?

One-to-one tuition can work well. A small group adds something different: children listen to one another, build on each other’s ideas and practise the turn-taking that conversation depends on. For English, and especially for oral skills, that peer talk is part of the learning.

Why does The Study Suite never add a seventh chair?

Because the benefits above depend on the number staying small. Six is a strict maximum in every class at every level, from P3 to the PSLE year, taught by MOE-trained specialist educators. Read about our approach, or book the complimentary diagnostic.

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