Most UK teachers met hinge questions through Dylan Wiliam's work on formative assessment. The idea is smaller than the training pack. You are about to do something that only makes sense if they understood the last thing. You ask one question that exposes the difference. Then you obey the answer.
This page is how to write one, with examples. What to do when the wrong answer is a real misconception, rather than a slip, is in spotting misconceptions before the bell. Where hinge questions sit among the other AfL moves is in assessment for learning strategies. The full set is on the blog.
What it is, and what it is not
A hinge has four properties.
- It sits at a decision. Usually part-way through, sometimes before a practice task you cannot untake. The next activity is different if they fail it.
- Everyone answers. Not the six with their hands up. If you only hear volunteers, you will hinge the lesson on the pupils who least need you to.
- The wrong answers are diagnostic. Each distractor is a mistake you have heard. "All of the above" and a joke option waste the only information the question can give you.
- You can read it quickly. If it takes ten minutes to collect, the moment has gone and you have lost the practice time as well.
It is not a starter. A starter tells you what survived from last lesson. It is not an exit ticket. An exit ticket informs tomorrow, when today's lesson can no longer bend. It is not a past-paper question with a mark scheme. You are not scoring. You are choosing a path.
How to write one in ten minutes
Name the single idea they must have before the next task. Not three ideas. One.
Write the right answer in a full sentence, including the reason. Then write three wrong answers you have actually heard, each with its own reason. If you cannot think of three, you can run the hinge with two. A random wrong answer teaches you nothing when someone picks it. You will not know what to reteach.
Check the right answer is right for the right reason. If two options end at the same letter but different reasons, keep them apart. "3/4 because the numerator is bigger" and "3/4 because 9/12 is more than 8/12" must not be the same choice. Otherwise the pupil with the misconception looks identical to the pupil who has got it.
Plan both branches before the lesson. Branch A: they mostly have it, here is the practice. Branch B: they have this specific wrong idea, here is the two-minute correction and a second question. If you have not planned branch B, you will talk for another ten minutes and call it responsive teaching.
Maths: fractions that look similar
Which is larger, 2/3 or 3/4?
- A. 2/3, because thirds are bigger pieces than quarters.
- B. 3/4, because 3 is bigger than 2.
- C. 3/4, because 9/12 is more than 8/12.
- D. They are equal, because both are one piece short of a whole.
C is the one you want. A ignores how many pieces. B happens to name the larger fraction and gives a reason that will fall apart on the next pair. D is the very common "one away from a whole, so the same" idea. If the room splits between B and D, you do not "go over fractions". You teach those two errors, then ask a fresh pair. 3/5 against 2/3 works, and the reasons have to be rebuilt.
Science: what the current is doing
Two identical bulbs are added in series to a cell. What is true?
- A. The current is the same through both, and they are dimmer than one bulb alone because they share the voltage.
- B. The first bulb uses some current up, so the second is dimmer.
- C. The current is larger, because there are two bulbs.
- D. Current only flows if the bulbs are different.
A is the model you are teaching at school level. B is "current gets used up", and it is stubborn. If a lot of boards show B, do not start the resistance calculation. You will be asking them to calculate a quantity they think disappears around the loop. Show one ammeter reading in words, or a diagram with the same number in three places, and ask again.
English: the apostrophe they think they know
Which sentence shows possession, not a missing letter?
- A. The dog's bowl was empty.
- B. The dog's hungry.
- C. Its raining.
- D. The dogs bowl was empty.
A is possession. B is "the dog is", which is an apostrophe, and the wrong job. C is missing the apostrophe in "it's". D has no apostrophe at all. If the class picks B, they have learnt "apostrophes make it correct" rather than two different jobs. That is a five-minute reteach. It is not "punctuation revision", which is how this error survives until the exam.
Humanities: a source, not a vibe
A source written by the king's own clerk says the king was loved by all his people. What is the careful use of it?
- A. Evidence of what the clerk wanted recorded, not proof that everyone loved the king.
- B. Proof the king was popular, because it was written at the time.
- C. Useless, because it is biased, so it should be ignored.
- D. Proof the clerk was lying.
A is the historical move. B treats "from the time" as "true". C is the misconception that a biased source has no value. D invents a motive you cannot see. If they cluster on C, the next task is not "find three biased sources". It is "what can this still tell us?"
A language example, because hinges are not only for maths
Which means "she doesn't have a brother"?
- A. Elle n'a pas de frère.
- B. Elle n'a pas un frère.
- C. Elle ne a pas de frère.
- D. Elle n'a de frère pas.
A is the sentence you want: negation, and de rather than un. B keeps the indefinite article. C misses the elision. D has the word order of someone translating word by word. You do not need a speaking assessment to see this. You need everyone to commit, and you need to reteach the one error that dominates, not all four.
How they should answer
Mini whiteboards work if you say "boards down until I count" and you look at the back row first. ABCD fingers work if the options include the reason, as above, so guessing is not invisible. Cards in the Plickers style work for the same reason, and they fail when two reasons hide under one letter.
Ask them to answer A, B, C or D and add five words on why. The letter gives you the pattern. The five words stop a guess looking like understanding.
Then do what you said you would do. If you move on after a room full of the wrong option, the class learns that the question was a ceremony.
If you want that middle-of-the-lesson check without collecting boards, Get It? will draft questions from the topic, you keep the one that hinges, and they answer in their own words rather than a letter. You see who has got it, who is unsure, and who needs the other branch. Free for a limited time. They only need the code.
Questions people ask
What is a hinge question?
A hinge question is a short diagnostic question at the point in a lesson where you must decide whether to move on. Every pupil answers. The wrong options are built from mistakes you have actually seen, so the pattern of answers tells you what to do next.
What makes a good hinge question?
One clear idea, every pupil committing to an answer quickly, and wrong options that each represent a different mistake. You should be able to read the room fast enough to change the next part of the lesson. A question you do not act on is just a quiz item.
How is a hinge question different from an exit ticket?
A hinge sits in the middle, while you can still change today's lesson. An exit ticket sits at the end, and the decision is about the next lesson. Both should be one question that is hard to bluff. They are not interchangeable.
How do pupils answer a hinge question?
Mini whiteboards, ABCD cards, fingers, or a private answer on a device all work. The important part is that everyone answers, and that you can tell the answers apart. If pupils show a letter, make sure each letter is tied to a reason, or a lucky guess looks like understanding.
Try it on one class.
One lesson. One question. Two minutes. If it doesn't tell you something you didn't already know, walk away.
Try it free — no cardStudents need no account. They just need the code.
Read next
How to spot misconceptions before the end of the lesson
A misconception is a wrong idea that hangs together, not a slip. How to hear it while you can still reteach it, with checks that fit the last part of a lesson.
Exit ticket ideas: examples that tell you who got it
One exit ticket question per subject, written so a wrong answer tells you what to reteach. Maths, English, science and the rest of the timetable.
Assessment for learning strategies that survive a real lesson
AfL strategies worth keeping in a real KS3 or GCSE lesson, and the ones that only look like assessment. What to do with the answer once you have it.