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Brainhub guide

Using feedback: how to act on teacher comments

Mock papers, marked homework and reports are coming home. The comments in the margin are worth more than the mark, if your child knows what to do with them.

Written by the Brainhub Editorial Team Cites published research Updated 31 Oct 2026 5 min read

Key takeaways

1. Why this week

January is when mock exam papers, marked homework and school reports land at home. Most children look at the mark, feel good or bad about it, and put the paper away. The comments, which say how to improve, often go unread.

That is a shame, because feedback is one of the best-evidenced ways to help children learn. The Education Endowment Foundation’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit rates it as high impact for very low cost: about six months’ extra progress on average, based on 155 studies.[1]

2. What the evidence says

Not all feedback works equally well. The EEF finds that spoken feedback has a slightly higher impact (+7 months) than feedback overall (+6 months), and digital feedback a smaller one (+4 months). Feedback from teachers tends to have the biggest effect.[1]

What matters most is what happens next. Effective feedback gives specific information on how to improve, focuses on the task and the subject, and is followed by a chance to act on it. Feedback on right answers matters too: knowing why something worked helps it stick.[1]

Feedback can even backfire. In a large review of feedback studies, Kluger and DeNisi found that in over a third of cases, performance got worse afterwards, often when the feedback turned attention to the person rather than the task.[2]

Type of feedback
Average extra progress
Spoken (verbal)
+7 months
All feedback
+6 months
Digital
+4 months

3. Four steps to act on a comment

This takes about 20 minutes, once a week. Pick one subject, not all of them.

Read it together, calmly

Not at the dinner table straight after school. Start with: “What’s one thing you did well?”

Find the pattern

The same comment in three pieces of work, or three subjects, is the one to work on first.

Turn it into a task

“Show your working” becomes “write every step in five maths questions this week”.

Redo, then check

Fix one answer properly, then ask the teacher if it is now right. That closes the loop.

Can’t understand the comment?: That’s normal. Encourage your child to ask the teacher: “What would a better answer look like?” Teachers are usually glad to be asked.

4. How parents can help

You don’t need to know the subject. Your job is to keep it calm and keep it about the work. Praise the effort and the fix (“You redid that question and got it right”) rather than the child (“You’re so clever”).[2]

Keep the marked papers in one folder. Before the summer exams, those comments become a ready-made revision list.

The mark says where they are. The comment says where to go next.

Want a second pair of eyes?: Our teachers can go through your child’s mock papers and comments with them, online or in person, and turn them into a clear plan. Book a free call.

Try it now

Test yourself on this page

Answer in your head first, then check.

  1. 1. How much extra progress does feedback add on average, according to the EEF?

  2. 2. Which type of feedback has the slightly bigger effect?

  3. 3. What turns a comment into progress?

Your next steps

  • Pick one marked piece of work this week.
  • Find the comment that keeps coming up.
  • Turn it into one small task and check it with the teacher.

Subject guides to go with this

Want one-to-one help? See how our online lessons work.

Sources

  1. Education Endowment Foundation. Teaching and Learning Toolkit: Feedback. educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/feedback
  2. Kluger, A. N. and DeNisi, A. (1996). The effects of feedback interventions on performance: a historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory. Psychological Bulletin, 119(2), 254–284. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.119.2.254

This guide is general study advice. Every student is different. A teacher can help you work out what fits.