Weak-topic summary template for tutors

What a good weak-topic summary does

The value isn't a list of everything a student can't do — it's picking the few things that, if they clicked, would move the most. Focus beats coverage: three specific gaps you can actually work through matter more than a page of vague ones. Tie each to something concrete you saw (a question type, a step they skipped, a concept they half-had) so it's clear what to practise.

Frame it around the topic, never the student. "Struggling with subtraction with borrowing" is a topic to work on; a label about the child is not, and it isn't yours to give. Keep strengths in the picture too — a summary that only lists gaps reads as a report card, and it's less useful for planning than one that says what's solid and what to build next.

Keep it a working document, not a verdict. Gaps close; note the date so you can see progress, and write it so the next lesson plan almost falls out of it. If you'll share any of it with a parent, soften the wording and lead with what's going well — the goal is a plan they can support, not a worry.

Copy-paste weak-topic templates

Replace the bracketed parts with your own details.

Weak-topic summary — [Student initials], [subject]
Date: [date]

Solid so far:
[1-2 things the student is confident with — keep this honest and specific]

To work on next:
1. [Gap] — [what you saw, e.g. "loses the carried digit in column addition"]
2. [Gap] — [the concrete thing to practise]
3. [Gap] — [only list what you'll actually get to]

Next step:
[The one gap to start with next lesson, and how]

Progress review — [Student initials], [subject]
Period: [dates covered]

Progress since last review:
[What has improved — name a gap that has now closed]

Still to embed:
[Topics that are getting there but not secure yet]

New priorities:
[Gaps that have surfaced as the work got harder]

Focus for next half-term:
[2-3 priorities, in order]

Exam gaps — [Student initials], [subject / exam]
Target: [grade / date]

Highest impact first:
1. [Topic] — [why it matters: frequently examined / marks often lost here]
2. [Topic] — [the specific skill, e.g. "structuring the 6-mark answer"]
3. [Topic] — [next in priority]

Quick wins:
[Small fixes that reliably pick up marks]

Plan:
[How the remaining sessions cover the top priorities]

Areas we're focusing on — [Student], [subject]
[Date]

Going well:
[Genuine strengths — lead with these]

What we're working on:
[1-2 areas, framed constructively — "building confidence with X" rather than "can't do X"]

How you can help at home (optional):
[One small, low-pressure suggestion, only if useful]

Build a weak-topic summary from your lesson notes

Spotting the gaps in the room is the easy part; turning a lesson's worth of scattered notes into a clean, focused summary — for every student, every week — is the slow part. LessonBrief reads the notes from the lesson you just taught and drafts a weak-topic summary that names the gaps constructively, keeps the strengths in view, and points at what to do next.

It's built for tutors and small tuition businesses: privacy-first (initials, never full names, and never a diagnosis or a label about the child), summaries assembled on our own server from your notes with nothing sent to any outside AI service, and every summary is a draft you review and adjust before it goes anywhere. From the same notes you can also draft the next-lesson plan, set the homework, and write the parent update — so the gaps you spot actually turn into a plan.