In this three-part series, Matt Bromley considers practical approaches for supporting ‘high-attaining’ students. This is part two. Catch up with part one here.
In part one of this three-part series, I argued that it is easy to overlook high-attainers because they’re often compliant; they are less likely to be truculent and thus are unlikely to raise any red flags. They make it easy for us to ignore them.
But while high-attainers might be compliant, they could also be coasting. If we fail to stretch them, we risk their boredom, disengagement, and underachievement.
As such, we need to ensure high-attainers are not just busy, but deeply and deliberately challenged. I thus offered five practical strategies to achieve this in the classroom.
I also said that, if we want high-attainers to become increasingly independent, we need them to be engaged and motivated to learn. I offered five further strategies to achieve this.
Now in part two, I would like to explore ways of converting high-attainers’ potential into tangible progress.
Converting potential into progress
Too often, we assume that because high-attaining learners are bright, they will thrive without intervention. In truth, though, ability is no guarantee of performance. These learners, as much as any others, need our attention, empathy, and structure.
Here are five practical strategies for supporting high-attainers.
1, Build the relationship before the rigour
Before we can stretch, we must connect. High-attaining learners who underperform often mask their vulnerabilities. For example, the fear of failure, perfectionism, or a lack of challenge earlier in school may have left these learners risk-averse or disengaged.
To help, take time to get to know the learner as a person. Ask what they enjoy, what they struggle with, what excites or frustrates them. We can use tutor time or short one-to-one chats for this. A learner who feels seen is more likely to take intellectual risks.
2, Diagnose the barrier, don’t assume the cause
Underperformance can stem from boredom, but it can also come from anxiety, disorganisation, or poor study habits. Intelligence does not equal independence. We must avoid lazy labels and dig beneath the surface.
In practice, we might use low-stakes conversations, learner voice surveys, or metacognitive routines to explore how the learner learns and what gets in their way. We can then triangulate these findings with data on effort, attendance, and classroom behaviour to build a holistic picture.
3, Design tasks that require struggle, not speed
High-attaining learners often conflate intelligence with ease. As soon as learning gets difficult, they panic, assuming they have somehow “lost it”. Our job is to normalise challenge and frame struggle as the point of learning, not its failure.
In practice, we might set tasks that require synthesis, evaluation, and creativity – tasks with no single right answer. We might also avoid “early finishers syndrome”: if they’re done quickly, they haven’t been stretched. To help, we can provide layered, open-ended challenges that deepen thinking.
4, Teach the skills, not just the content
High-attaining learners may have absorbed knowledge quickly in the past, but that doesn’t mean they’ve developed the skills needed for long-term success: planning, revising, organising, reflecting.
To counter this, we can model our own thinking explicitly.
Scaffold self-regulation using tools like checklists, graphic organisers, and goal-setting templates. Encourage learners to reflect on their learning habits regularly and adapt their approach.
5, Involve parents and families as partners
Support doesn’t stop at the school gates. Parents and families often welcome guidance on how to nurture their child’s learning at home, especially when that child is capable but underperforming.
So, we should endeavour to share practical strategies with families such as reading lists, independent projects, or revision plans. We might also run a stretch-and-challenge evening, or provide regular updates home, not just on grades, but on effort and engagement.
Subject-specific stretch
As I have said, supporting high-attaining learners is not about bolting on extra tasks or feeding them more content, it is about embedding challenge in the very fabric of our teaching. It is about planning for depth, not breadth. As such, I’d like to offer some subject-specific classroom strategies to help you support your high-attaining learners.
1, English: Replace ‘more’ with ‘more complex’
In English lessons, the temptation is to give high-attainers longer extracts or more essays. However, challenge lies not in volume, but in cognitive demand. Instead of asking these learners to analyse another stanza, we could ask them to critique the reliability of the narrator. Instead of adding more quotes, we could ask them to compare narrative perspectives across texts.
Take Shakespeare: rather than asking high-attainers to simply analyse Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy for imagery, we could invite them to explore how her language shifts from imperative to interrogative across the play, and what this reveals about her psychological deterioration. We could encourage them to debate the function of fate versus free will in Macbeth, citing textual evidence and wider philosophical readings.
2, Science: Use ambiguity to stretch thinking
High-attainers in science often breeze through standard practicals. To deepen their understanding, we could strip away the step-by-step instructions. Instead, we could present the problem – “How can we measure the rate of photosynthesis?” – and let them devise the method. We could also insist they justify each step and anticipate possible sources of error.
Better yet, we could introduce anomalies. We might present conflicting data-sets and ask learners to identify possible reasons – experimental error, uncontrolled variables, or flawed assumptions? This fosters evaluation and interpretation, two of the highest-order scientific skills.
3, History: Encourage multiple narratives
Challenge in history is about interpretation. High-attainers can be pushed to question the very construction of history itself. As such, we could present them with two contrasting secondary sources on the British Empire – one celebratory, one critical. We could then ask them to analyse not just content, but context: Who wrote it? When? Why?
Then, push further: we could ask them to construct their own interpretation of colonial impact, using both the sources and additional independent research. And we could insist that they include counter-arguments and discuss historiography.
We should also challenge them to think like historians, not just history learners.
4, Maths: Prioritise reasoning over replication
High-attainers often complete problem sets quickly. But finishing fast doesn’t mean thinking deeply. In mathematics, challenge comes through reasoning and proof.
When teaching algebra, we shouldn’t stop at solving equations. Instead, we should ask: “Can you construct an equation that has no solution? Why does it have no solution?” or “Create a quadratic equation with a specific set of roots. Can someone else solve it and verify your answer?”
Another strategy: we could present a correct answer and ask learners to reverse-engineer the problem. “How might we have arrived at 36 as the answer? Could there be more than one method?” In this way, learners engage with process, not just outcome.
5, Languages: Harness authentic materials
Stretching learners in modern foreign languages requires exposing them to authentic language use. We should therefore ditch the textbook dialogues and bring in newspaper headlines, song lyrics, or short news clips. We could also ask high-attainers to translate idioms or explore cultural references.
In French, we might present an article from Le Monde and ask learners to summarise its tone and intent. Then, we could have them write their own persuasive editorial on the same issue – climate change, for example – mimicking the rhetorical flourishes of the original. This shifts the focus from rote vocabulary to expression and intent.
6, Geography: Embrace uncertainty and debate
High-attaining learners thrive on ambiguity. When teaching topics like climate change or urbanisation, we shouldn’t frame them as fixed facts but as contested issues.
We might pose real-world dilemmas, such as: “Should a developing country prioritise economic growth over environmental protection?” We might also provide conflicting data and ask learners to form an argument, critique their peers’ reasoning, and revise their conclusions based on new evidence.
In fieldwork contexts, we could allow high-attainers to design their own inquiry questions. For instance, rather than directing them to measure footfall in a high street, we could ask: “What factors influence pedestrian movement in urban centres, and how might we investigate this?”
7, Art and design: Shift from product to process
In creative subjects, high-attainers can be pushed by focusing on the “why”, not just the “what”. We could ask them to write an artist’s statement explaining the intention behind their work. Better still, we could introduce constraints – use only recycled materials or restrict the colour palette – and ask them to explore how limitations can enhance creativity.
Encourage critique. After completing a piece, we could get them to annotate their work with questions, such as: “What message am I communicating?” “Which techniques helped or hindered this?” We could then challenge them to rework an existing piece with a different emotion or influence in mind.
8, PE: Emphasise strategy and leadership
In PE, high-attainers often stand out physically. But cognitive challenge is just as important. As such, we should task high-attaining learners with devising and leading warm-ups that target specific muscle groups. Or we could give them a game and ask them to reconfigure the rules to encourage cooperation over competition.
We might also ask: “How can we adapt this drill to focus on spatial awareness?” or “What tactical changes might we make if the opposing team is faster?” This builds strategic thinking and leadership alongside performance.
9, RE and PSHE: Explore moral complexity
In subjects dealing with ethics and belief, high-attainers can be stretched by moral dilemma and philosophical reasoning.
To help, we might pose questions like: “Is it ever morally acceptable to break the law?” or “Should governments limit individual freedoms to protect the majority?” And we might insist that learners consider multiple viewpoints – religious, secular, legal – and build a sustained, nuanced argument.
Further, we could structure tasks around debate but ask for written synthesis afterwards. Can they reconcile conflicting views? Can they articulate their own moral stance and its implications?
10, Technology and computing: Apply theory to innovation
In computing or DT, we should push learners beyond replication to innovation. In a coding task, rather than asking them to replicate a program, we might challenge them to identify inefficiencies in an existing script and optimise it.
In DT, we might ask learners to design a product for a user with a specific need – an elderly person with arthritis, for example. The brief must include function, aesthetics, and ergonomics. This blends creativity with empathy, technical precision with problem-solving.
Final thoughts
Stretching high-attainers requires deliberate design. It’s not about piling on pressure or demanding perfection, but about creating opportunities for depth, curiosity, and intellectual risk-taking.
Across subjects, the most effective challenge is rooted in real-world application, ambiguity, and metacognitive reflection. When we treat these learners not as passive recipients of knowledge but as active agents in their learning, we not only unlock their potential – we help them exceed it.
Next time, we’ll look at ways of supporting high-attainers who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and take a step back to consider the importance of creating a whole-school culture of challenge.
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