Film and television boost student performance

What does the data say?

Film and television improve memory, retention and recall in learning

Our student voice evidence is compelling. Students overwhelmingly find that when provided with film and television as part of their learning, this helps them with memory recall and retention.

• Across the full dataset, 80% of students agree or strongly agree that film and television help them remember or retain what they are learning.
• In Higher Education this rises to 85%.
• In Further Education it stands at 72%, and in schools at 68%.

We gathered 943 qualitative comments from 1,147 students. The qualitative data provides powerful illustrations of how this works in practice.

Students frequently describe recalling specific scenes or using visual moments as anchors for written responses. A university student commented, “It sticks in my head better than reading alone”. A college student explained that watching programmes allowed them to “remember the steps more clearly”, particularly in practical or process-based subjects.

Neurodivergent learners benefit more from audiovisual learning for memory and retention

Neurodivergent learners report particularly strong retention benefits. In Higher Education, 88% of neurodivergent learners agree that film and television support memory, compared with 83% of neurotypical learners. Similar patterns appear in Further Education and schools. These differences are meaningful when considered alongside research indicating that some neurodivergent learners experience challenges with working memory or information processing speed. Audiovisual formats, by distributing information across channels and providing visual anchors, appear to mitigate some of these challenges.

The qualitative responses reinforce this pattern. One student commented, “It helps me process and retain information without feeling overloaded”. Another noted that when reading alone, “it goes in one ear and out the other”, whereas watching and hearing explanations “makes it stay”. These descriptions speak directly to the distinction between fleeting exposure in working memory and durable encoding in long-term memory.

Access to film and television strengthens memory, retention and learning outcomes

As with other benefits evidenced by our research (check out our blog to read more on these), the most striking differences emerge when access is considered.

• In universities, 88% of students in high-access environments agree that film and television improve retention, compared with 67% in low-access contexts.
• In colleges, the difference is 78% versus 54%.
• In schools, 76% compared with 59%.

Importantly, the strength of these responses goes beyond simple agreement. Underlying the headline figures is a clear intensity of feeling. Across the entire dataset, “Strongly Agree” emerges as the single largest response category when students have good access to film and television. This means that learners are not expressing tentative or moderate benefits, but high-confidence, highly reliable improvements in memory. When access is in place, students feel certain that audiovisual content helps them retain information more effectively.

Students in high-access settings are more likely to describe being able to pause, replay and revisit material, which further supports consolidation. The ability to control pacing is particularly important from a cognitive perspective. When learners can process information at a manageable rate, they are less likely to experience overload in working memory and more likely to encode material effectively into long-term storage.

These gaps suggest that memory benefits are not incidental. They are strongly associated with consistent, reliable provision.

Where audiovisual resources are embedded and reliable, students report stronger retention outcomes. Where access is limited or inconsistent, these benefits are significantly reduced. This suggests that the memory advantages of audiovisual learning are not inherent to the medium alone, but to the conditions under which it is made available and integrated within teaching.

Audiovisual learning can improve student performance and academic attainment

While the data cannot establish a direct causal link between access to film and television and higher grades, the implications for attainment are difficult to ignore. Qualitative responses repeatedly point to the same experience: visual material stays with students longer. They describe recalling specific scenes, explanations, or examples during exams and assessments, using these memories to reconstruct arguments or clarify concepts. This suggests that audiovisual learning may support not only short-term recall, but deeper, more durable learning.

One wrote, “It helps me remember key information for tests”. Another noted that after watching a programme, “I can picture it in my mind when I’m revising”. One university student wrote, “I remember scenes from documentaries during exams which helps me structure my answers”.

Importantly, students often frame retention in terms of confidence. Being able to recall information reliably during assessments reduces anxiety and strengthens self-belief. Several respondents described feeling “more prepared” or “less stressed” going into exams when audiovisual resources had formed part of their revision. One university student wrote that watching case studies meant they “felt more confident writing essays because I could remember real examples”.

These reflections align closely with memory research: imagery and narrative context provide retrieval pathways that can be activated later under exam conditions.

This link between retention and academic performance should not be underestimated. Assessment in post-16 education frequently depends on the ability to retrieve and apply knowledge under time pressure. When learners have multiple memory pathways, including visual and narrative cues, they may be better positioned to perform effectively.

Taken together, these findings reinforce the broader message emerging from the Teach Beyond Text research. Film and television do not simply make learning more “fun”. They deliver academically rigorous learning. They support the cognitive processes that underpin durable learning. By reducing overload in working memory, strengthening encoding into long-term memory, and providing rich retrieval cues, film and television helps students retain and recall knowledge more effectively.

Implications for the education sector: memory, retention and student performance

If memory sits at the core of academic success, then the implications of these findings are significant.

Post-16 education is assessment-driven. Whether through exams, coursework, practical demonstration or professional accreditation, students are required to retrieve and apply knowledge under pressure. Engagement and understanding are essential, but without durable retention, learning cannot translate into performance. When students describe recalling scenes during exams, picturing case studies in essays, or remembering visual sequences in tests, they are describing retrieval in action.

The cognitive science is clear. Information that overloads working memory is less likely to transfer into long-term storage. When learners process dense written material through a single channel, the risk of overload increases, particularly for novices or those with weaker prior knowledge. Audiovisual formats, when used intentionally, distribute processing across visual and auditory pathways, strengthen encoding, and provide multiple retrieval cues. This increases the likelihood that knowledge will be accessible later, when it matters most.

Our data suggests that where access to film and television is strong and embedded, students are substantially more likely to report improved retention. Where access is weak, those benefits diminish sharply. This pattern is particularly evident in Further Education and schools, where attainment gaps are already most acute.

For the sector, this raises an important question. If we know that retention underpins attainment, and we have both research and student voice evidence indicating that audiovisual learning strengthens retention, why is access still inconsistent?

Improving memory outcomes is not simply about content choice. It requires structural commitment. Institutions need to ensure reliable, licensed access to high-quality audiovisual resources so that students can revisit, pause and replay material as part of normal study practice. Crucially, educators need support and professional development to embed audiovisual learning in ways that reinforce memory rather than distract from it. This includes integrating retrieval practice, structured questioning and reflection into audiovisual use, and aligning moving image content directly with assessment objectives.

Investment in audiovisual learning should therefore be understood not as enrichment, but as part of an attainment strategy. Strengthening encoding, consolidation and retrieval processes is central to closing performance gaps and supporting progression. Where students are better able to remember and recall, they are better positioned to demonstrate knowledge, apply understanding and succeed in assessments.

In a climate where outcomes, progression and value for money are under increasing scrutiny, the relationship between memory and attainment cannot be ignored. If institutions are serious about improving results, particularly in contexts where learners face cognitive overload, fragmented study time or uneven prior knowledge, then supporting durable learning through multimodal design must form part of the conversation.

The evidence suggests that when audiovisual learning is embedded intentionally and equitably, it strengthens the cognitive foundations upon which attainment depends. The challenge for the sector is whether it is prepared to treat memory support as a strategic priority rather than a pedagogical afterthought.

What next?  

Access the findings  

Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing more of our research findings, but you can access either the entire report or our handy summary.   

Join the debate  

We will be exploring and discussing the findings on our LinkedIn, so follow us there. We will also be hosting a series of live debates to continue the conversation. If you’d like to join a panel, message us on LinkedIn and tell us a bit about yourself and what perspective you bring to the table.

Learn more about how to teach beyond text

Alongside this, we’re committed to supporting change in teaching practice through free modules in our new Teach Beyond Text course. You can learn more about this and enrol on these modules for free.  

Access 4 million film, TV and radio programmes for use in teaching  

And don’t forget, our Box of Broadcasts (BoB) streaming platform gives you access to over 4 million films, documentaries, television and radio programmes with features like clipping and playlists, making it easier than ever to teach beyond text. Get in touch for a free trial below.