Ensuring students engage with feedback is vital. A lack of feedback engagement can prevent learners from making progress and can potentially lead to repeated mistakes. If students don’t act on the feedback they receive, the time teachers spend reviewing work and providing thoughtful, relevant comments is wasted. 

A recent study by Meyer, Jansen and Fleckenstein (2025) highlights the inherent challenge of feedback engagement. They examined primary students’ text revisions and the extent to which they had engaged with the feedback. They found that approximately 20% of student did not make any revisions following feedback; furthermore, 47% did not demonstrate an improvement is subsequent revisions. In short, a majority of students in the study did not effectively engage with the feedback; as a result, an improvement in learning was virtually impossible. 

The thought of spending precious time reviewing students’ work—only for them to glance at it or ignore it—is frustrating and demoralising! It is not enough to expect or encourage students to engage with feedback; teachers need to carefully check that they do so. Fortunately, there are trusted approaches that can guarantee students engage meaningfully with feedback. Below are three simple techniques to help make feedback worthwhile for everyone. 

Time

The first component for teachers to consider is planning and providing specific, protected time for students to respond to feedback. This could be dedicated time within a lesson, or a set homework task focusing on responding to feedback. 

Dylan Wiliam offers helpful advice to teachers,

“I would say as a general principle, don’t ever give feedback to students unless you make the time (the next time they are in the classroom with you) for them to respond to that feedback” (Hendrick & Macpherson, 2017, p. 28). 

Dedicated time is needed for students to read (or listen to) the feedback, reflect on it, and act on it. Once this time has been planned and provided, the next step is ensuring students actually understand the feedback. 

Checking for understanding

Students can only accurately engage with feedback if they understand it. Checking for understanding is a central part of teaching, often used in conjunction with explanations or when giving instructions. But do you also check for understanding when giving feedback? 

This can be challenging to do, especially with larger class sizes, but it is an essential element of effective feedback. Otherwise, students may misinterpret feedback or act on it in ways that don’t support their learning. We’ve written previously on how to check for understanding of students’ feedback. Once students understand the feedback, they are better equipped to take the next step with confidence. 

Checking for understanding not only provides information to the teacher, but also asks students to think hard about the feedback, increasing their engagement with it. 

Tasks

Feedback should be actionable, supported by a relevant task or guidance for next steps. Feedback should provide clear instructions and guidance for the learner. This is not always possible with summative feedback, such as external or end-of-year exams, where the focus is on a final grade or judgment. But it is essential for formative feedback! 

Paul Kirschner and Mirjam Neelen (2018) identify an important issue with inherent with feedback. They report,

“A common problem which undermines the effectiveness of feedback, whatever type you choose to use, is that learners often don’t do much with the given feedback. A common rule of thumb here is that the more one makes use of feedback, the more effective it is.” 

Teachers can’t expect that students will have the necessary prior knowledge, expertise, or motivation to make their next steps on their own. Instead, scaffolding subsequent tasks requires learners to actually implement (or “use”) the feedback in a meaningful way. 

Conclusion

The Great Teaching Toolkit: Evidence review (Coe et al., 2020) highlights the importance of interacting as an element of great teaching. The research tells us that great teachers provide actionable feedback to guide learning. Providing time to engage with feedback, checking students’ understanding, and ensuring there are tasks and opportunities to act on it are essential. These techniques not only help activate hard thinking, but also help maximises learning opportunities; this significantly increases the chances of feedback having a positive overall impact. 

References

Coe, R., Rauch, C.J., Kime, S. & Singleton, D. (2020). Great Teaching Toolkit: Evidence review. Evidence Based Education. https://evidencebased.education/great-teaching-toolkit/  

Hendrick, C., & Macpherson, R. (2017). What Does This Look Like in the Classroom?: Bridging the gap between research and practice. John Catt. 

Kirschner, P.A. & Neelen, M. (2018). No feedback, no learning. 3-Star Learning Experiences. https://3starlearningexperiences.wordpress.com/2018/06/05/no-feedback-no-learning/  

Meyer, J., Jansen, T., & Fleckenstein, J. (2025). Nonengagement and unsuccessful engagement with feedback in lower secondary education: The role of student characteristics. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 81, 102363. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CEDPSYCH.2025.102363