Feedback students act on, and feedback they only read
Most written feedback is read once and changes nothing. Three properties that separate comments that alter behaviour from comments that decorate a page.
27 August 2026 2 min read
Hours go into writing comments on student work. Watch what happens when the papers come back: the student looks at the mark, scans the page for red, and puts it away. The comments were accurate, specific, and had no effect at all, because nothing in the process required the student to do anything with them.
Three properties that make feedback act
- It names one thing, not seven. A page covered in corrections is a page a student cannot prioritise, so they prioritise nothing. Pick the single error that, if fixed, would recover the most marks, and write only that.
- It says what to do, not what went wrong. "Unclear" describes your experience of reading. "Write the formula before substituting numbers" is an instruction. The first is a diagnosis the student cannot act on; the second is an action.
- It is followed by an opportunity to use it. This is the property almost always missing. Feedback given at the end of a topic, on work never revisited, has nowhere to go. Feedback given with a second attempt attached changes the next piece of work.
The mark suppresses the comment
When a mark and a comment appear together, students read the mark. This is consistent and it is not laziness: the mark is the summary and the comment is commentary on a decision already made. Where you can, return work with the comment and without the number, ask for the correction, and release the mark after. Where you cannot, at least put the required action at the top rather than at the bottom.
Whole-class feedback costs a tenth as much
Read the pile, write nothing, keep a tally of the three most common errors. Then spend ten minutes of the next session on those three, with examples on the board and immediate practice. Most of the value of individual comments, at a fraction of the cost, and it is sustainable in a group of forty, which individual written feedback is not.
The test of whether it worked
Not whether students read it. Whether the same error appears less often in the next piece of work. If it appears at the same rate, the feedback was decorative regardless of how carefully it was written.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Why do students ignore written feedback?
Usually because nothing requires them to use it. A comment on work that is never revisited has nowhere to go. Attaching a required correction, and returning the comment before the mark, is what changes that.
Is whole-class feedback as good as individual comments?
For most purposes it captures the majority of the value at a fraction of the cost, and unlike individual written comments, it is sustainable in a large group, which means it actually keeps happening.
How many errors should I mark on one piece of work?
One. A page covered in corrections gives the student nothing to prioritise, so they prioritise nothing. Choose the error whose correction would recover the most marks.
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