“Does that make sense?”
“Yes.”
It is a familiar exchange in classrooms and tutoring sessions. The learner may mean it sincerely. The explanation may feel clearer than it did a few minutes ago.
But feeling familiar with an explanation is not the same as being able to use the idea independently.
A learner might recognise the steps while the tutor demonstrates them, follow a heavily supported example, or complete a task by copying the pattern they have just seen. None of those things is worthless. They can all form part of learning. But on their own, they do not show that understanding is secure.
Good tutors therefore look for better evidence. They do not turn every session into a test, and they do not try to catch learners out. They use carefully chosen questions and tasks to discover what the learner understands, where the thinking becomes uncertain and what should happen next.
Here are five ways they do it.
1. Ask the learner to explain the idea
One of the simplest checks is to ask the learner to explain an idea in their own words.
This might mean explaining:
why a mathematical method works;
how a writer creates a particular effect;
what caused an historical event;
why a scientific result supports a conclusion;
or how they decided which information was relevant.
The aim is not to demand a polished definition. A hesitant but thoughtful explanation can reveal more than a fluent answer learned by heart.
A tutor listens for connections as well as correct vocabulary. Can the learner identify what matters? Can they distinguish one idea from another? Can they explain why a particular step is needed?
Questions such as “How did you decide that?”, “Why does that step come next?” and “What would you tell someone who was confused here?” make the learner’s thinking more visible.
They also give the tutor useful information. A partially correct explanation may show exactly where the next example or clarification is needed.
2. Change one feature of the example
A learner may succeed because a new question looks almost identical to the tutor’s model. That shows that they can follow a pattern, but it does not necessarily show that they understand when or why to use it.
A good tutor changes something.
In mathematics, the numbers or representation might change. In English, the learner might apply the same analytical idea to an unfamiliar paragraph. In science, the context might be different even though the underlying principle remains the same.
The change should be purposeful, not surprising for its own sake. The tutor is asking: can the learner recognise the underlying idea when the surface details are different?
This is also where contrasting examples can be useful. Why does one method work here but not there? Which of two responses is stronger, and why? What has changed between the examples?
Comparison makes understanding easier to inspect. It can reveal whether the learner has grasped the principle or simply remembered what the previous answer looked like.
3. Remove the prompt gradually
Support is valuable when it helps a learner participate in thinking that would otherwise be inaccessible. But support can also conceal what the learner is not yet able to do alone.
For example, a learner may complete a task successfully because the tutor:
identifies the first step;
highlights the relevant information;
supplies the key vocabulary;
asks a series of leading questions;
or corrects each error immediately.
The completed page may look convincing, but much of the decision-making has come from the adult.
Effective tutors reduce prompts gradually. They might move from a fully modelled example to a shared attempt, then to an independent question. They give the learner an opportunity to decide where to begin and what strategy to use.
If the learner becomes stuck, the tutor can restore the smallest amount of support needed. This is more informative than either leaving the learner to struggle indefinitely or stepping in at the first pause.
The objective is not to remove all help as quickly as possible. It is to find out what the learner can now do independently and what still needs teaching.
4. Ask the learner to find or explain an error
A correct answer tells us something. A learner’s response to an incorrect answer can sometimes tell us more.
A tutor might present a plausible error and ask:
Where did the reasoning go wrong?
Which part is correct?
How could we repair the answer?
What misconception might have produced it?
How could we check the result?
This moves the discussion beyond simply producing an answer. The learner must examine the reasoning and compare it with what they know.
It also helps create a healthier relationship with mistakes. Errors become evidence to investigate rather than proof that someone “cannot do” the subject.
The tutor’s response matters here. If every mistake is met with an immediate correction, learners can become dependent on adult confirmation. When they are supported to locate and repair an error themselves, they practise the judgement they will eventually need without the tutor beside them.
5. Return to the idea later
Immediate success can be misleading.
A learner may answer correctly because the example, explanation or key phrase is still fresh in working memory. A stronger check is whether they can retrieve and use the idea after attention has moved elsewhere.
A tutor might revisit it near the end of the session, include it in a later lesson or connect it to a new topic. The delay does not need to create pressure. A short question or application task may be enough.
Returning later helps answer an important question: has the learner retained the idea, or did they only follow it in the moment?
When something has been forgotten, that is useful evidence—not a reason for embarrassment. The tutor can provide another explanation, choose a different example or schedule further practice.
Checking should change the teaching
Checking understanding is only valuable if the tutor responds to what they discover.
If a learner can explain an idea but struggles to apply it, they may need varied examples. If they can complete a task with prompts but not independently, the next step may be carefully reduced support. If they repeat the same misconception, another explanation alone may not be enough; the tutor may need to identify missing prior knowledge.
This is formative assessment in its practical sense: gathering evidence of learning so that teaching can be adjusted.
It does not require constant formal testing, scores or elaborate tracking. Much of the most useful evidence comes from listening closely to an explanation, examining a choice or noticing when a learner changes strategy.
What parents can look for
Parents do not need to observe every tutoring session or ask for a score after each lesson. More useful questions include:
What did the tutor discover about my child’s understanding?
Did the tutor notice a misconception that needed attention?
What can my child now do with less support?
What will the tutor revisit next time?
How does this connect with what is being taught at school?
A good update should describe more than the activity completed. It should indicate what the activity revealed about learning and the next teaching decision.
That does not mean every session will produce a dramatic breakthrough. Learning often develops through small changes: a clearer explanation, a better-chosen method, less reliance on a prompt or successful recall after a delay.
From successful activity to independent learning
The purpose of tutoring is not to help a learner complete as many questions as possible while the tutor is present.
It is to strengthen the knowledge, strategies and judgement the learner can use elsewhere: in class, during homework, in an assessment and eventually without additional support.
That requires more than asking, “Do you understand?”
Good tutors create opportunities for learners to explain, compare, apply, correct and retrieve. They pay attention to the resulting evidence and change their teaching accordingly.
The important question is not simply whether the work was finished.
It is: what can the learner now understand and do for themselves?
Sources and further reading
Education Endowment Foundation — How checking for understanding can guide teaching in the moment
Explains how carefully elicited evidence of understanding can inform immediate teaching decisions.Education Endowment Foundation — Feedback
Summarises research on feedback, formative assessment and identifying gaps in learning.Education Endowment Foundation — Embedding Formative Assessment
Covers the use of questions, discussions and tasks to gather evidence of learning.Education Endowment Foundation — Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning
Guidance on helping learners plan, monitor, explain and evaluate their learning.Department for Education — Assessment, feedback and questioning: intended outcomes
Official professional-development material explaining how questioning and ongoing assessment help teachers identify pupils’ understanding and needs.
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