Supporting Taught Postgraduates

Feedback

Advice and resources to help you use feedback effectively.

What is feedback?

Feedback is a ‘thing’

Feedback includes any comments you get about your work. It can be written (for example on an assignment cover sheet or in the margins of an essay) or it may be verbal (for example in a meeting with a tutor or during a practical exercise). We typically think of feedback as coming from lecturers or tutors, but it can also come from fellow students and other peers. Feedback may or may not be a formal part of your assessment. Whatever the form in which it arrives, feedback is something you can make use of.

Feedback is a process

Feedback is also a process that you engage in – for example, the comments you receive can form the start of a conversation between you and your tutor. By taking part in this process you can become better at your work.

How can feedback be used?

Feedback you receive (especially formal feedback from lecturers and tutors) should give you a clear sense of how good your work is in relation to stated learning outcomes and marking criteria. It should highlight what you are doing well and what you are not doing so well. It should also offer advice on how to improve your work, through comments on the piece of work itself or guidance on improving future work.

More generally, feedback is an ongoing process you engage in that enables you to improve your work and to develop a sense of what good work within your subject area is like.

University guidance on feedback

Your programme and course handbooks will offer guidance on expectations for feedback.