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Become a better student · Module 3: Revision that works

Mix it up: interleaving in maths and beyond

Doing 20 questions of the same type feels productive. Mixing question types feels harder, and that’s the point.

Written by the Brainhub Editorial Team Cites published research Updated 13 Oct 2026 6 min read

The course unlocks one lesson at a time. You can read this now, but it only counts once you’ve finished Stop re-reading.

Key takeaways

1. Blocked versus interleaved

Most textbooks give you a block of questions on one topic: 20 questions on the area of a triangle, then 20 on circles. That is blocked practice. Interleaved practice mixes them up, so each question could need a different method.

2. What the studies found

In one experiment, students practised finding the volume of different shapes. Students who did blocked practice did better during practice. But on a test a week later, students who had practised the problems mixed together scored about three times higher: 63% compared with 20%.[1]

A later study in real maths classrooms found the same pattern: on a delayed test, students who had interleaved their practice scored 72%, compared with 38% for those who had practised in blocks.[2]

Blocked practice teaches you how to do a method. Mixed practice teaches you when to use it.

3. Why it works

In a block, you know the method before you read the question. In an exam you don’t. Interleaving makes you practise the hardest part: looking at a question and deciding what kind it is. It also builds in spacing, because each topic comes round again after a gap.

4. How to interleave your revision

Learn, then mix

Use a short block to learn a new method. Once you can do it, move it into mixed sets.

Shuffle past papers

Cut up questions from different papers and topics, or use a mixed topic quiz, so you can’t predict the method.

Mix within a subject

In science, mix questions on cells, energy and particles in one session.

For parents: If your child says mixed practice feels harder and slower, that’s normal. The results show up on test day.

Try it now

Test yourself on this page

Answer in your head first, then check.

  1. 1. What is interleaved practice?

  2. 2. In Rohrer and Taylor’s study, how did the groups compare a week later?

  3. 3. When is blocked practice still useful?

Your next steps

  • Make a 10-question mixed quiz from three topics you’ve already learned.
  • Before solving each question, write which method it needs.
  • Repeat with a new mix next week.

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Sources

  1. Rohrer, D. and Taylor, K. (2007). The shuffling of mathematics problems improves learning. Instructional Science, 35(6), 481–498. doi:10.1007/s11251-007-9015-8
  2. Rohrer, D., Dedrick, R. F. and Stershic, S. (2015). Interleaved practice improves mathematics learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(3), 900–908. doi:10.1037/edu0000001

This guide is general study advice. Every student is different. A teacher can help you work out what fits.