Lesson 3 of 6 · 5 min · 8-card deck

Marking workload — what's worth doing

Stopping pointless marking without lowering standards.

The Department for Education's own workload review found that detailed written marking is one of the most time-consuming things teachers do — and one of the lowest-impact. Triple-marking, dialogic marking and 'deep marking' policies are linked to teacher burnout without measurable pupil benefit.

What works is selective marking: pick a small number of pieces per term to mark in detail, mark the rest with a quick code or symbol, and use whole-class feedback for common errors. Most schools' published marking policies now reflect this — but old habits persist.

Active recall flashcards

Work through every card. Try to answer in your head before flipping — the act of retrieving is what builds durable memory.

Card 1 of 80 understood

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Practice scenario

An English teacher marks one major essay per half-term in detail; other written work receives whole-class feedback or a focused code-based mark on one element. Marking workload halves; pupil writing quality rises.

Try this in your classroom

Mark selectively — not everything pupils write.
Mark for one or two specific things per piece.
Use codes to mark efficiently.
Always pair marking with response time in lesson.