The 5 golden rules of classroom seating plans

For some teachers, a seating plan is an insignificant document. Before taking a class for the first time, they’ll scribble pupils’ names swiftly onto a scrap of A4.

But I believe that teachers should take time over seating plans and consider the implications of their seating allocations right from the beginning, even before they have gotten to know a class.

With careful construction, an effective seating plan can improve pupil behaviour and help with their academic progress.

When drawing up a seating plan, there are many factors to consider. Based on the available research and my own experience of putting together hundreds of plans over my career, here are my recommendations for arranging pupils in your classroom at the start of term:

1. Don’t allow pupils to choose their own seats

With the exception of certain sixth form classes containing very mature students, I always assign pupil seating at the start of the academic year.

Throughout my career, I’ve found that giving pupils free rein over seating choice can lead to even the most diligent of pupils becoming distracted.

A 2012 study by American researchers David Bicard and colleagues adds weight to my anecdotal experiences, finding that “during individual seating, disruptive behaviour occurred more than three times as often when the pupils chose their seats”.

As this research indicates, given the opportunity, most pupils will choose to sit with friends, which usually leads to off-task chatter and a general loss of focus.

From my own experience, I see pupils concentrating better when they are seated next to less familiar peers. A further benefit is that seating pupils away from friends also encourages them to get to know other pupils better, which can help develop a deeper sense of belonging across the class.

2. Be wary of traditional seating arrangements

Teacher Tapp data collected in 2024 revealed that boy/girl seating plans remain very popular, with 28 per cent of secondary teachers and 18 per cent of primary teachers using them “frequently or always”.

Yet, I would argue that gendered seating plans come with negative consequences. To begin with, they are often used as a blunt behaviour management tool, unfairly expecting “quiet” girls to help manage their “difficult” male classmates.

In addition, boy/girl seating plans perpetuate the stereotype that boys and girls are fundamentally different types of learners, who need to be treated differently.

You might assume that another seating plan staple, seating pupils alphabetically, is a more equitable approach. However, this model is also problematic, as it means that pupils whose surnames end in W, Y or Z always find themselves consigned to the back of the class for no particular reason.

Additionally, where teachers adopt this model across departments or year groups, the same pupils can end up stuck next to each other in several lessons, regardless of whether they gel together or not.

3. Consider factors other than behaviour management

A recent study by Dutch researchers Nathalie Hoekstra and colleagues highlighted that addressing behaviour issues tends to be the main priority for teachers when devising seating plans. But a blinkered focus on behaviour can overlook other important factors that need to be considered.

For example, pupils’ medical needs - such as eyesight problems and easy access to the toilet - should also be a concern. Another practical consideration is pupil height, as you want to ensure that tall pupils aren’t blocking their peers’ view of the whiteboard.

However, I would be very wary of well-meaning but potentially counterproductive advice, such as “make sure you sit all pupils with special educational needs or disabilities at the front”.

While this may work well for some pupils, it may be impractical in other cases. For example, a pupil may need to use a laptop in a classroom where the only plug sockets are located to the rear of the class. Or one pupil with SEND’s sensitivity towards noise might mean they are ill-suited to sitting next to another who struggles to control the urge to tap their pen on the desk.

Some pupils also don’t like being identifiable as having a SEND label, let alone being seated in the “SEND section” of the class.

For these reasons, adopt a bespoke seating approach for this diverse group of pupils, rather than automatically lumping them in together at the front.

4. Place higher and lower prior attaining pupils together

Teachers often feel that pairing a struggling pupil with an academic high-flyer may adversely affect the higher prior attaining pupil. But research from Belgium conducted by Kobe Desender and colleagues suggests the opposite, with motivation and mental exertion tending to be contagious.

Put simply, seeing nearby pupils work hard often encourages lower attaining pupils to imitate the effective academic habits of their seating partner.

If you are worried that a struggling pupil will require extra support from you, however, make sure you place them at the end of a row, or in another accessible seat. That way you’ll be able to monitor their work more easily and be able to offer live feedback more discreetly.

5. Be prepared to be flexible

Once your carefully compiled seating plan has been shared with the class, there’s a temptation to persevere with it, come what may. But this kind of inflexibility is a mistake, as you need to be able to make changes to address any issues.

For this reason, after allocating seats to pupils during my first lesson with a class, I always include the caveat that these arrangements are not set in stone, and I will be making necessary adjustments as I see fit.

Seeing pupils celebrating being seated next to each other, for example, is a tell-tale sign. In these circumstances, I will immediately separate a pair.

The underlying message is always polite but authoritative: it’s my classroom, and I’ll be making decisions about what will bring about a purposeful environment. Conversely, if I detect an obvious hostility between two adjacent pupils, I won’t keep them together out of stubbornness.

Ultimately, a good seating plan requires frequent reflection and evaluation, particularly at the start of each term. Has the class slipped into complacency or bad habits? Are those pupils still a good combination? Is it time for a new layout to freshen things up?

When seating arrangements lose their effectiveness, taking decisive action and being willing to abandon your best-laid plans is the sensible approach.

Mark Roberts is an English teacher and director of research at Carrickfergus Grammar School. His new book, out now, is Fail Better: how teachers can help pupils overcome failure, perfectionism, procrastination, impostor syndrome and test anxiety