Formative Assessment Without the Workload

Formative assessment is the practice of gathering information about what pupils understand during the learning process — rather than at the end — so teaching can be adjusted in response. It is one of the highest-leverage practices in education: the research evidence for its effect on outcomes is consistent and strong.

The problem is that formative assessment has become confused with marking. They are not the same thing. Marking is predominantly summative — it records what happened after the work was done. The most powerful formative assessment happens in the moment, requiring no marking at all.

Five low-workload formative techniques

**1. Hinge questions** — a carefully designed multiple-choice question with answer options that each reflect a specific misconception. 'Which of these is correct: A, B, C, or D?' where A is the right answer, B reflects a common procedural error, C a conceptual misconception, and D an unrelated mistake. Hands up, mini-whiteboards, or digital response. Thirty seconds. Tells you exactly which misunderstanding is present and in whom.

**2. Exit tickets** — one question, on a slip of paper or mini-whiteboard, answered in the last three minutes of a lesson. The question should target the core learning objective. Collected as pupils leave. Sorted into three piles (got it, nearly, not yet) in two minutes. Informs the next lesson's starter activity.

**3. Show me boards** — mini-whiteboards used for simultaneous responses. Every pupil writes their answer and holds it up at the same moment. The teacher can scan the room and see the distribution of understanding in seconds. Far superior to hands up (which samples only the willing) or cold calling (which samples only one child at a time).

**4. Think-pair-share with accountability** — the crucial modification that most teachers miss: after the pair discussion, randomly select pairs to share (not hands up). Ask pupils to report what their partner said, not what they think. This creates real discussion (you are accountable for listening) and gives the teacher information about whether the paired discussion was productive.

**5. Live marking during a task** — circulating during independent work, reading over shoulders, and giving immediate verbal feedback. A 30-second interaction — 'this is right, now try this extension' or 'what did you mean by this word?' — provides more useful information than written feedback on the same piece of work an hour later.

The common thread

All of these share one property: they give information that can be acted on immediately. The best formative assessment is a feedback loop completed within the same lesson, not a feedback loop that spans a week of marking.