Reducing Cognitive Load – Making Learning Manageable for Every Learner

Every teacher knows the moment when a student seems overwhelmed: too much information, too many steps, too many instructions floating around - and the learning grinds to a halt. In the classroom of today (especially with learners who may have neurodivergent profiles, working-memory challenges or processing differences), this feeling of overload is an all-too-common barrier.

The concept of cognitive load helps us understand what is going on behind the scenes, and more importantly, what we can do to reduce those barriers and make learning more manageable. In this blog we’ll explore what cognitive load is, why it matters in school settings, and most importantly how you can apply practical strategies to design lessons that work for every learner.

What is cognitive load?

At its simplest, cognitive load refers to the demand placed on our working memory at any given time. Working memory is limited in capacity and duration, while long-term memory can hold large amounts of information once it’s organised into ‘schemas’ (mental structures that organise knowledge in long-term memory, making it easier to process new information).

In the UK context, the Education Endowment Foundation says that reducing extraneous cognitive load (i.e., unnecessary mental effort caused by poorly designed tasks) is key to effective classroom practice.

Three types of load are often referenced:

• Intrinsic load – the inherent difficulty of the material or task.

• Extraneous load – the burden caused by how the task or instruction is presented (e.g., complex layout, irrelevant details).

• Germane load – the mental effort devoted to schema building and processing relevant information.

  
  

When intrinsic and extraneous loads are too high, working memory can be overloaded and learning is compromised.

Why it matters for today’s learners

Learners with weaker working memory, or those processing new or complex material, may struggle disproportionately when cognitive load is high.

Neurodivergent learners (for example those with ADHD, dyslexia, processing or organisation difficulties) often benefit from explicit scaffolding and careful task design to avoid overload.

Lessons that appear straightforward for some may still carry hidden cognitive load for others (especially when prior knowledge is missing, instructions are complex or students must hold many elements in mind at once).

From primary to GCSE and beyond, designing for manageable cognitive load helps create equity - allowing more learners to engage with depth rather than simply coping with pace or memory demands.

Practical strategies to reduce cognitive load

Below are classroom-tested strategies you can adopt and link to by pairing with our Reachout Educational resources.

1. Chunk information and tasks

Break down explanations and tasks into smaller stages. Rather than presenting a full problem or set of instructions, pause after a portion, check understanding, let learners digest, then move on. As one UK teacher noted: “Now when planning, I consider more carefully how much information they are given in different phases of the lesson… I provide more opportunities to check understanding or for consolidation.”

Practical application: Use visual check-in sheets or ‘pause & reflect’ templates that chunk the work, or task-sequence worksheets.

2. Use dual-coding: visual + verbal

Present information through both spoken/written explanation and visual representation (diagram, flow-chart, scaffold) so you engage both visual and auditory channels and reduce overload. The SET Foundation emphasises this in the UK context.

Practical application: Use visual organisers, annotated diagrams, planning grids (especially helpful for learners who find long textual instructions hard to digest).

3. Remove or reduce unnecessary “extras”

Cluttered slides, multiple irrelevant graphics, long instructions, multiple tasks in one sheet all add extraneous load. Simplify the layout and instructions so students can focus on what matters.

Practical application: Provide simplified templates, minimalistic sheets, highlight with colour the key steps rather than crowding the page.

4. Activate prior knowledge and scaffold learning

If students can draw on schemas already stored in long-term memory, the burden on working memory is reduced. That’s why it’s important to connect new learning explicitly to what they already know.

Practical application: Use “what we know/what we wonder” starters, prompt sheets to activate prior knowledge, scaffolding sheets that are gradually removed as learners gain confidence.

5. Build in consolidation and retrieval practice

Once material is introduced, give learners time to process it and revisit it. This supports the transfer of knowledge into long-term memory where it can be more easily accessed. Every revisit reduces the working memory required next time.

Practical application: Use spaced-review planners, retrieval-practice trackers, reflection sheets that ask “What have I remembered? What more can I link this to?”

6. Provide clear instructions and reduce cognitive “split-attention”

When learners must switch between multiple sources (e.g., instructions in a worksheet + separate diagram + verbal explanation), their working memory can struggle. Integrating resources or reducing splits helps.

Practical application: Combine instructions, diagrams and prompts onto one sheet where possible; highlight steps in order clearly; use colour/code to highlight the sequence.

How Reachout Educational resources can support this

At Reachout Educational, we intentionally design our resources to align with cognitive-load aware practice: for example our task management packs, step-by-step worksheets and scaffolding templates help reduce extraneous and intrinsic load.

Check out our resources on our website and start breaking down the cognitive load barrier to learning!

Final thoughts

Reducing cognitive load doesn’t mean making tasks easier or “dumbing down” learning. Rather it means designing learning so that learners’ mental energy is directed to thinking and making sense rather than deciphering instructions or holding too much in mind at once. When we get this right, all learners - including those with additional needs, neurodivergent profiles or limited prior knowledge - are more likely to engage, understand and progress.

By using simple, evidence-informed strategies and pairing them with purposeful resources (as you’ll find at Reachout Educational) you can make learning more accessible and more meaningful.