‘Critically analyse further’: Use and perceptions of feedback in a U.K. university

Assessment feedback is a contentious subject for students and assessors, viewed as unhelpful by students yet burdensome to staff, and there is a gulf in understanding between the two groups. Here, I investigate the use and perceptions of feedback at a U.K. university. An analysis of 2,169 grades for 578 students showed that feedback was accessed in 41% of cases, with viewing rates increasing by study year and being slightly but significantly higher among higher-achieving students. Parallel staff and student surveys revealed contrasting perceptions: students expressed dissatisfaction with brief, generic feedback and desired detailed, constructive comments. Staff were frustrated by students’ lack of feedback literacy, and felt that students lacked the capacity, or willingness, to revisit feedback and had an inability to conceptualize feedback as a continual process. Both groups cited technical and consistency issues as barriers. Drawing on these findings, I propose four low-cost actions: make feedback specific; frame negative comments constructively; standardize feedback formats where feasible; and embed feedback literacy in early-year tutorials. Together, these measures could improve student engagement, staff satisfaction, and, ultimately, the impact of feedback on learning. This article was published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ .