A learning baseline should help an adult decide what to teach next. It does not have to begin with a long test, especially when a learner has experienced disrupted education or finds unfamiliar assessment situations difficult.
Conversation, existing work and a few carefully chosen tasks can provide a useful starting picture. The aim is to understand what the learner knows, what support makes learning accessible and which question still needs checking.
Explain what you are trying to find out
Tell the learner why you are asking them to try a task and what will happen afterwards. A simple explanation might be: “I want to find something we can work on together, so the next lesson starts in the right place.”
Explain who will see the information in an age-appropriate way. Avoid promising that nothing will be shared if progress reporting is part of the placement. Keep the discussion calm and specific rather than presenting the session as a verdict on ability.
Our article on why a positive relationship can be the first learning milestone explains the importance of trust. A baseline is also an early opportunity to show that the adult listens and adjusts when something is not working.
Combine several sources of information
Ask about previous learning, interests and tasks the learner finds comfortable. Review recent school or tuition work where it is available and appropriate to share. Check when it was completed and how much support was given.
Select a small number of tasks that answer useful questions. For example, can the learner explain an idea aloud, locate information in a short text or show how they approached a calculation? Use a mixture that fits their communication needs.
The EEF's SEND teaching guidance supports developing an understanding of pupils and their learning needs. For individual tuition, this can inform careful observation and responsive teaching without treating an informal baseline as a standardised assessment.
Look for agreement and differences between sources. A confident conversation alongside very limited written work may suggest a barrier to recording ideas, but it does not establish a diagnosis. It gives the tutor a question to investigate educationally.
Record the conditions as well as the answer
A score alone can hide important information. Note whether the task was read aloud, whether a prompt was used, whether the learner had seen a similar example and whether the environment affected participation.
A fictional example: a learner leaves a written instruction unanswered, then completes the calculation after the instruction is spoken. The record should describe both attempts. It should not simply state that the learner cannot do the maths or, conversely, that the skill is fully secure independently.
A practical observation record can include:
- The task and the knowledge it was intended to explore.
- What the learner did without help.
- The exact prompt or explanation provided.
- What changed after that support.
- Any access difficulty or interruption.
- A proposed teaching priority and a review date.
If the learner cannot participate that day, record the limit of the evidence. Lack of participation is not proof of lack of ability. Another task, setting or time may provide a more useful picture.
Use the findings in the next lesson
Choose one achievable priority and explain why it has been selected. Teach it, then check what the learner can do afterwards and again on a later occasion. A baseline becomes useful when it changes the teaching plan.
Explore our learning and support options alongside the learner's existing course, age and aspirations. Avoid automatically moving a young person to much younger-looking materials because some skills need rebuilding. Accessible work can still respect their interests and maturity.
This process is educational assessment, not diagnostic testing. Where questions about special educational needs remain, discuss appropriate next steps with the school or relevant professionals. For support establishing a thoughtful learning starting point, contact Reconnect Learning with the information already available and the questions you need the assessment to answer.