Some pupils in a cohort may find reading comprehension harder than their peers do. That does not mean they should all receive the same intervention. Before confirming provision, review each pupil's word-reading accuracy, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension profile.

A comprehension group works best when pupils can read the chosen text with enough accuracy to focus on meaning and share a similar starting point. Pupils with substantial decoding or fluency difficulties may need separate or additional teaching.

Decide what the intervention will target

Use short assessment tasks and classroom evidence to distinguish between:

• limited understanding of key vocabulary;

• difficulty identifying explicit information;

• weak inference or use of textual evidence;

• difficulty monitoring understanding;

• difficulty summarising and connecting ideas.

Set one or two precise entry targets. Avoid creating a broad “reading group” in which every comprehension strategy is taught at once.

Plan the provision

Record:

• the pupils included and why their profiles are sufficiently similar;

• the target skill and baseline;

• who will teach the group;

• session frequency and duration;

• the texts and curriculum links;

• the review date and exit criteria.

A typical pattern is four to six pupils, two or three sessions of 20 to 30 minutes a week. How long you run it depends on how much support the pupils need, and the school decides where it fits and when to review progress (often after six to eight weeks). Where pupils differ in severity, retain the same core target but vary the modelling, prompts, text length and independent practice. A pupil may need individual follow-up even if they initially join the group.

Teach strategies explicitly

Model one strategy at a time using a short, worthwhile text. Explain the thinking, not just the procedure.

A useful sequence is:

1. pre-teach the small number of words needed to understand the passage;

2. model the target strategy, such as clarifying or locating evidence;

3. practise together with prompts;

4. ask pupils to apply the strategy to a new section;

5. review what helped and when the strategy should be used.

Predicting, clarifying, questioning and summarising can work together, but pupils need to understand each one before combining them. Use narrative, information and curriculum texts so that learning transfers beyond intervention sessions.

Monitor separate aspects of comprehension

Do not treat one correct answer as evidence that comprehension has improved. Track:

• understanding of taught and untaught vocabulary;

• retrieval of explicit information;

• inference supported by evidence;

• ability to notice and repair misunderstanding;

• transfer into ordinary lessons.

Use unfamiliar passages at review points. Share the strategy language with class teachers so it is reinforced during English and wider curriculum reading.

Programme and resource options

• FFT Reciprocal Reading (paid) is a structured KS2 and KS3 programme teaching prediction, clarification, questioning and summarising. The targeted version runs with groups of four to eight, at least twice a week for 20 to 30 minutes, and staff training comes in a school package (from £750 plus VAT in October 2026). In EEF trials reported on FFT's page, pupils in the targeted version made about two months' extra progress in reading comprehension in the first trial (2019) and one month in a second trial across 300 schools (2026), rising to two months for pupils who had 20 or more sessions. It fits pupils whose word reading is secure; it won't help pupils still held back by decoding.

• EEF: Improving Literacy in Key Stage 2 provides free guidance on vocabulary and comprehension-strategy teaching. It can inform a school-designed intervention but is not a ready-made programme.

• The school's own curriculum texts can provide a free, relevant practice set when they are carefully selected and matched to the target skill.

Selection should follow assessment of pupils' needs, staff capacity, implementation requirements and evidence.

Talamo has no commercial relationship with any of the organisations named here. We suggest them only because we think they could be useful to schools.