Group sizes

last updated:September 2010

What group sizes are best for learning?

Research evidence
The small-group discussions needed for effective collaborative work need to last long enough for all pupils to have the opportunity to contribute.

The time required will increase with the size of the group and the complexity of the task.  You can compose groups from clusters of friends and deliberately include pupils with a range of abilities. Group size can vary from two to eight students.  Pairs allow deep discussion, but may not cover a range of views. Larger groups tend to have a greater diversity of opinions, which helps discussion, but they are more likely to be dominated by a few individuals than smaller groups. 

Your evidence
You may find it helpful to look back over some of your lesson plans and think about how you decided on the most appropriate type and size of grouping. You could make notes using such headings as:

• Lesson activity
• Individual work
• Whole class work
• Group work
   

Include size and composition (e.g. ability spread, gender) of the group in the fourth column. How much coherence is there between your learning aims and your organisational strategies? Would you find it useful to work with a colleague so that you could compare when and how you both use different group sizes?

Next steps
Could you use your evidence to plan activities for groups of different sizes? For example, would it be helpful to experiment with pupils working in pairs for peer tutoring, and in whole classes for information giving and summarising? Are there ways you could scale activities so that pupils begin an activity in pairs and then double up to complete an activity?