Why Use VARK® in Your Classroom or Training?

Teachers and trainers often ask a simple, practical question:
“Why should I use VARK with my students or trainees—and how do I actually do it?”

Here’s the short answer:
VARK is not a teaching method. It’s a thinking tool that helps learners understand how they learn—so they can make better choices about how they study, practise, and perform.

Why Use VARK?

What VARK Does for Learners

VARK supports three powerful shifts in your learners:

Metacognition

Learners become more aware of how they learn, not just what they learn. This awareness helps them make smarter study decisions.

Metacognition—thinking about how one learns—has long been linked to improved academic performance (e.g. Biggs, J.B. (1988). The Role of Metacognition in Enhancing Learning. Australian Journal of Education, 32, 127 – 138.).

VARK supports this by helping learners:

Reflect on what works and what doesn’t
Make deliberate choices about how they study
Evaluate and improve their approach over time

Reframing difficulties

Instead of thinking “I’m not good at this,” learners can ask:
“Have I tried learning this in a different way?”
That shift alone can reduce frustration and increase persistence.

Actionable study strategies

VARK gives learners practical options:

Visual: diagrams, maps, flowcharts
Aural: discussion, explanation, listening
Read/write: notes, lists, summaries
Kinesthetic: practice, examples, real-world application

The goal is not to label learners—it’s to expand their toolkit.

What Teachers and Trainers Can Expect

When VARK is used well, you’ll likely notice:

More independent learners who take responsibility for how they study
Better questions from learners about how to approach tasks
Greater persistence, especially when learning gets difficult
More productive conversations about learning—not just content

What you won’t see is a perfectly “matched” classroom—and that’s a good thing.
The aim is not uniformity. It’s flexibility and awareness.

Does VARK Work?

VARK has been widely used over many years, with consistently strong feedback from learners and educators:

73% of students say their results match their perception
Over 80% expect VARK to help their learning
Around 81% report that it did help after using it

Many learners also report increased:

Confidence
Motivation
Understanding of how to study

VARK tends to be most helpful for learners who feel they need to improve their study approach—and within that group, the impact can be significant.

Looking at what students say about VARK, here are a few of the many comments we have received:

I wish somebody had introduced this to me before I had gone through fourteen years of frustrated learning. Thanks for this wonderful site and its wonderful tools!

I am happy that something like VARK exists because I feel that it could help others who are similar to me. I wish I had known about it before today because I’m sure it would have saved me a lot of time when trying to understand how to adapt.

The concept that I have misunderstood the way I learn my whole life is just mind-blowing. As a Kinesthetic and Aural Learner, I have always assumed my inattentiveness in class was ADD. Now I know that its mostly because power point is not my learning style. Thank heavens! This will change my life!