Mastery of learning is the accumulation and retention of knowledge, conceptual understanding and skills, and knowing when and how to use them. Application of learning includes transferring information to both familiar and new contexts, which leads to deeper understanding and more sophisticated use of knowledge. Mastery is fundamental to students’ achievement in school and their lives beyond formal education.

This explainer outlines how students develop mastery by consolidating knowledge – storing and strengthening it in memory through practice and review – enabling them to solve unfamiliar problems, think critically and creatively, and generate new representations and applications of their understanding.

This explainer is one in a series of four that describe the cognitive science evidence of how students learn (see related information below). Teachers and school leaders can use these explainers to deepen their understanding of the cognitive science of how students learn and consider implications for practice.