Comment Only Marking

The strategy, as published

Exactly as it appears on the card

Part of Feedback That Moves Learning Forward in 02 Formative Assessment, where it sits alongside its neighbouring strategies, the infographic and the thinking for the whole area.

Why you might use it

The problem it may help with

Butler's finding is stark enough that the card leads with it: comments alone produced the greatest gains, and adding a grade to the comment cancelled it out. Given both, pupils read the grade, compare it with their neighbour's, and the comment might as well not be there.

Removing grades from work in progress protects the only part of the marking that can still change the work.

What it might look like

One version of it, in a classroom

A maths teacher returns a practice paper with comments identifying the strongest section and the step where marks were lost, and no score anywhere. The first ten minutes of the lesson go on acting on those comments; scores appear only when the unit's final assessment arrives.

Try it

A way to begin

Choose one piece of work in progress from one class and mark it comment only. Watch what pupils do with the comments when there is no grade to look at first.

What to notice

Reading what happens

• Where pupils' eyes go when work comes back, and how many read past a grade when one is present.
• Whether your comments give pupils something to do rather than something to feel.

Things to think about

Before and while you use it

• Work in progress is the card's boundary. Summative pieces still get graded; the change protects feedback while the work can still improve.
• Some marking policies expect grades on every piece. How comment only marking sits with that expectation is a judgement for the teacher in the room, and sometimes a conversation in the department, not a rule a website can settle.

Related strategies

Where this connects

• 📋 Comment Only, No Grades Butler found comments alone produced the greatest gains. A grade cancels the comment: students see the score and skip the words. If grades are mandated, delay until feedback is used. 03 Feedback · Timing & Frequency
• ⚠️ One Third Makes It Worse Over a third of feedback interventions decrease performance. Before giving feedback, check: does this comment address the work or the student? If it is about the student, rewrite it. 03 Feedback · What Feedback Is
• 🧠 Feedback Must Cause Thinking Feedback must be more work for the recipient than the donor. Pose questions rather than writing corrections. If feedback requires no response from the learner, it is not feedback; it is merely information. 02 Formative Assessment · Feedback That Moves Learning Forward
• ❓ 3 Questions, Not Corrections Return work with three questions rather than corrections. Students must respond before moving on. Cognitive effort belongs with the learner. Feedback that corrects for them removes the struggle. 02 Formative Assessment · Feedback That Moves Learning Forward

The wider thinking

Where the evidence sits

Butler compared grades, comments and the two combined; the gains sat with comments alone, and the combination did no better than grades by themselves. The card’s attribution stands as published: Butler, Wiliam.

The fuller picture, sources included, is in further reading and evidence for Formative Assessment.