Template
A whole-class feedback sheet for a graded test
When half the class makes the same error, write the comment once. This sheet puts it on one page that opens the next lesson.
The Graidable team
Published
Done well
- Collecting like terms (Q1–Q2)
- Checking answers by substitution (Q5)
Common errors (number of students)
- Bracket not multiplied out fully, e.g. 11
- Sign lost when moving a term across7
- No working shown on Q65
Re-teach at the start of next lesson
- Expanding brackets: two worked examples on the board, then three for students
- Moving terms: “do the same to both sides”, not “move and change sign”
Do now
- Redo the question where you made the error, in green
- Then Q8–Q10 on the sheet
Done well
Common errors (number of students)
Re-teach at the start of next lesson
Do now
- A filled-in sheet for a linear equations test
- Five steps from the grading pile to the sheet
- Which errors go on the sheet
- A three-week rota for written comments
In this article
You have graded 30 tests on linear equations, and 11 students expanded as . Writing the same comment 11 times takes a while, and only those 11 read it. Written once, on a sheet for the whole class, it opens the next lesson.
The sheet has four parts: what most students did well, the errors that kept coming up and how many students made each, what the class works on first, and a task to start straight away. The one below is filled in for a made-up 9th-grade test. Copy it, print a blank one, or write your own by hand while you grade.
The sheet doesn’t replace the scores. Each student still gets a score for each question, and finds their own errors by looking at their own paper.
From the grading pile to the sheet
Fill the sheet in while you grade. Once the pile is done you remember that “lots” of students made an error, and you no longer know whether it was four or eleven.
Keep a blank sheet next to the pile. Divide it into the four parts: done well, common errors, re-teach, do now.
Add a tally mark for each student who makes an error. The first time an error appears, write it down with one example. After that, add a tally mark.
Grade question by question. With every answer to Q2 in a row, a pattern shows up far sooner than when you grade one whole paper at a time.
Choose two things to re-teach. Take the two errors most students made, or the one that blocks the rest of the topic. The others stay on the sheet without lesson time.
Write the do-now as tasks a student can start on. Students redo the question they got wrong, then move on to new questions of the same kind.
Which errors go on the sheet
Not every error belongs there. A careless slip and a misunderstanding need different responses1, and an error two students made isn’t worth the whole class’s time. Three questions sort them:
Figure 2
On the sheet, or in the margin?
Did more than three or four students make the same error?
Yes: Put it on the sheet and take it with the whole class.
No: go on to the next question
Is it a careless slip the student can find alone?
Yes: Mark it wrong without correcting it.
No: go on to the next question
Does it show a misunderstanding of the method or idea?
Yes: Write a hint or a question in the margin for that student.
No: go to the last step
Otherwise: Let the score stand on its own. No comment is needed.
A rota for written comments
Some students still need a written comment from you, just not on every piece of work. Split a class of 30 into three groups of ten:
| Week | Detailed written comments | Sheet only |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Group A (10 students) | Groups B and C |
| 2 | Group B (10 students) | Groups A and C |
| 3 | Group C (10 students) | Groups A and B |
Everyone gets the sheet every week, and a written comment every third week.
Try it with one class
Three weeks with one class is enough to judge it.
- Set the next homework or practice task as usual, and put no grade on it. Fill in the sheet while you read the set.
- Give everyone the sheet, and write comments for one group of ten.
- Start the next lesson with ten minutes for students to fix their errors.
- After three weeks, compare your hours with the three weeks before, and see whether the errors on the sheet come back in the next test.
Tell students beforehand that practice work gets comments and tests get grades. Then the missing grade reads as a decision.
Graidable is the tool we make. This part is about it.
Finding the common errors with Graidable
Graidable drafts the scores for a handwritten math, physics or chemistry test from your answer key, and you approve every score. When the set is done, it gives you a spreadsheet of each student’s points per question. The questions where the class lost the most points are where to look first when you fill in “Common errors”. Try it on the sample class, no card needed.
Sources
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Elliott, V. et al. (2016). A marked improvement? A review of the evidence on written marking. Education Endowment Foundation. Main findings, the sections on thoroughness and pupil responses, and the school case studies. educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk. Checked 8 October 2026. ↑