Using your Feedback

Learning Matters #13 Using your Feedback 

Over the last week, many students have taken part in review meetings to discuss feedback from trial exams and assessments. Feedback is the most useful thing you can receive to help you know where you are you – that is what you are doing well and crucially, what you need to do to improve. It was clear from those meetings which students had read their feedback, understood it and were using it to direct their own learning. 

Below are some top tips from students who are using their feedback effectively –  

• Don’t focus your revision on what you can already do well. This knowledge is in the bank – you know it and can use it effectively. Focus on what you don’t know well and target these deficit areas.  

• Audit your knowledge and understanding. Use the spec to rank your confidence with topics and address the ones that worry you, or those that you don’t feel you can do well. The same goes for question types. If you’re strong with a certain type of question, practice those where you’ve lost marks. This will make sure your revision is targeted.  

• Timing is everything. You might feel you know everything about a topic, but if you can’t get it on paper in the set amount of time you have to answer, then you’re not using it effectively. Test yourself in timed conditions using the time allocations that you have i.e. 8 marks in 8 minutes. If you’re going over that time, aim to be more succinct. 

• Find ways to memorise more. Rehearse key theories, say them out loud, chant or recite them so they become familiar. 

• If your feedback is unclear to you, or you don’t understand it, ask your teacher to explain it. You should be able to say clearly what you know well and what you need to do better. 

We finished results review meetings with the message that it is all to play for. Even if you underperformed or achieved grades you were unhappy with, there is time to improve. Start an audit of your knowledge and understanding. Make a list of those areas that trouble you and make a plan to action them. 

Learning matters. It’s why we’re here and we are here to help. Freebie Friday returns this week. Keep an eye out in the Plaza for our latest resource to help you bring your A game!