Raising Standards, Reducing Workload: A Practical Guide to Feedback

Do you need to mark every piece of work to give students effective feedback?

This practical guide explores how teachers can reduce unnecessary marking while maintaining high standards and supporting student learning.

Rather than simply telling teachers to mark less, it provides practical alternatives to routine written marking, including live feedback, self-assessment, whole-class feedback and targeted assessment marking.

Drawing on classroom practice across Maths, Computer Science and Geography, the guide demonstrates how feedback can be purposeful, manageable and responsive to students’ learning needs.

Inside the guide:

• Rethinking the purpose of marking and feedback
• Practical strategies for giving live feedback during lessons
• Using self-assessment and peer assessment effectively
• Giving whole-class feedback instead of repeating the same comments
• Using question-level analysis to identify learning gaps
• Helping students reflect on assessment and act on feedback
• Subject-specific examples from Maths, Computer Science and Geography
• Guidance for Heads of Department and school leaders
• A practical framework for reviewing the impact on learning and workload

Who is it for?

This guide is suitable for classroom teachers, Heads of Department, middle leaders and school leaders who want to improve feedback practices and reduce unnecessary marking workload.

It is designed to support professional reflection and practical changes to classroom routines. It does not suggest that all marking is unnecessary; instead, it encourages teachers to choose feedback methods that best meet the learning need.

Part of the Raising Standards, Reducing Workload practical guide series.