What Should You Do When Your English Lesson Finishes 25 Minutes Early?

By Gav & Em

If your class finishes the planned work 35 minutes into a 60-minute English lesson, use the last 25 minutes to build on the same lesson aim. Spend 4 minutes checking what learners can say or do without help, 12 minutes using it in a new situation, 5 minutes on feedback and a second try, and 4 minutes on an individual exit check. You only need a board and somewhere for each learner to write.

Go to the 25-minute sequence · Use the teacher checklist

The 25-minute rescue sequence

Worked example for A2–B1. The class has just practised making and responding to suggestions. Keep that aim and move from choosing a class outing to rearranging it when the plan changes. Everyone needs to make a suggestion and respond to someone else’s.

Lesson minutes 35–39 (4 minutes) · Check what learners can do from memory

Give everyone a minute to write a suggestion for a class outing and a possible reply from memory. Pairs take turns saying their suggestions and responding. Listen to a few pairs. If learners are stuck, put two frames on the board, such as “How about going to …?” and “That could work, but …”, and ask them to try once more before moving on.

Lesson minutes 39–51 (12 minutes) · Change the situation and agree a plan

Put three options on the board: a picnic in the park (£2 each, five minutes’ walk), a museum (£6 each, 20 minutes’ walk) and an indoor games café (£8 each, five minutes’ walk). The class has £8 per person. In groups of three or four, give learners 2 minutes to think and 4 minutes to agree an outing. Ask each person to make one suggestion and respond to someone else’s before the group decides.

Then announce, “It’s going to rain, and we have to be back here in 30 minutes.” Give groups 4 minutes to make a new plan and 2 minutes to compare it with another group’s. Ask them to say what changed their decision. The new information gives learners a reason to listen, disagree politely and offer a workable alternative.

Lesson minutes 51–56 (5 minutes) · Give feedback and try again

Put one effective phrase and one anonymous example to improve on the board. For example, ask the class to repair “How about go to the café?” Tell pairs the café is full. They can suggest somewhere new that fits the budget and time limit. They have two minutes to suggest a backup, respond and agree what to do. In a mixed-level class, leave the sentence frames visible for this round and ask confident learners to give a reason or ask a follow-up question.

Lesson minutes 56–60 (4 minutes) · Check each learner’s progress

Give everyone this prompt: “Your class wants to meet after the lesson. The usual café is closed. Suggest a different place. Then write a reply that raises a problem or accepts the idea with a reason.” Ask learners to write both lines on a slip or in a private chat message, with the model covered. Collect every response and close on time.

Look for a clear suggestion and a reply that responds to the idea with a reason or a practical concern. If several learners struggle with the same part, start next class with a short model and another example. If most can do both, give them a fresh speaking situation at the start of the next lesson.

Use the same sequence with another lesson aim

After a reading lesson, give groups two new readers with different needs and ask them to recommend something from the text, using a detail to justify each choice. For the exit check, give a third reader and ask each learner for one recommendation and the detail that supports it. Keep the same timings and change the prompt to fit what you taught.

Hear Gav and Em on finishing a lesson early

Em describes the moment when the recap is done and there are still seven minutes on the clock. Hear how Gav gets the conversation going by asking learners about their plans for the day.

Read the clip transcript

Em: You could actually have time at the end that you haven’t prepared for. You might have seven minutes. It’s always seven, in my opinion. But you could have seven minutes where you haven’t got an activity or anything to do. So you might have done all the wrapping up, the giving homework, the having the small talk at the end.

Gav: And then you sit in silence for the last seven minutes? Looking awkward.
Em: No, of course not, Gav. What do you do in that situation?
Gav: I ask them what their plans are for today. I have a phrase, actually.
Em: What’s that?
Gav: What do you have on your desk today?
Em: Like a bowl of apples?

Listen to the complete show and read the episode transcript.

If you have only a few minutes left, choose an activity from Five-Minute Fillers and Coolers.

What to do when an English lesson goes off plan. Find out how to keep an online class going when the audio fails, get learners started when instructions don’t land, or handle a grammar question you can’t answer on the spot.