You can use a set of marking codes to communicate information swiftly and precisely to learners.

Instead of writing a series of comments around their work, or underlining and circling a range of different areas, you can simply note down the codes wherever they are most appropriate.

When you return work to learners, you can invite them to look through the codes and make any changes necessary – or simply use the information to improve their next attempt.

When coming up with a set of marking codes, avoid developing too many.

Focus instead on creating a handful that cover the most useful and relevant areas of your marking.

These will be areas that crop up again and again.

That you are regularly asking learners to look at, correct and improve.

For example, an English teacher might come up with the following code:

• Sp = Spelling – check the spelling of one or more words in this line.
• P = Punctuation – check the punctuation in this line.
• S = Sense – reread this sentence to see if it makes sense.
• NP = New Paragraph – you need to start a new paragraph here.
• IU = Incorrect Usage – check your use of words in this line.

We have five codes here, covering much of what the teacher will look at when marking learner work.

The codes don’t cover everything, but they cover enough to be useful – both to learners and the teacher.

When marking work, the teacher can speed up the process.

They can use the codes to quickly communicate accurate information to learners.

In turn, learners can act on this information when they get their books back, because they are familiar with the codes.

Thought of in this way, we can see that marking codes are essentially a shorthand shared between teacher and learner.

To help learners remember the meaning of the codes, provide a small handout for them to stick in the front of their books.

After a few pieces of work have been marked, most learners will internalise the codes and know what they mean.

Another advantage of using marking codes is that, over time, you can train learners to self-assess their work in line with the codes.

For example, our English teacher might ask their learners to read through their work looking at Sp, P, S, NP and IU before they hand it in.

They might even go a step further and specify that they want to see at least two corrections made by every learner before the work is deemed ready to be marked.

Here are two further examples to illustrate.

Example 1: Literacy

A Year 5 teacher who teaches literacy comes up with a code like the one above.

They use this to help learners develop a better understanding of where they are making mistakes.

After marking learner work, the teacher hands it back, displays the codes on the board as a reminder, and invites learners to go through and examine their feedback.

Learners are challenged to correct at least half of the mistakes the teacher has identified.

This process sees learners taking ownership of their work and responding to the marking codes to bring about improvements.

Example 2: Geography

The geography teacher creates the following code:

• T = Technical language – check your usage in this sentence.
• E = Examples – look at your use of examples, how could this have been different?
• Exp = Explanation – check your explanation; is it accurate and could you have said more?
• Ev = Evaluation – how else could you have evaluated here?

They use this code to mark learner work, teaming it up with a general formative comment at the end focussing on strengths and a target.

When learners get their work back, the first ten minutes are taken up with them reading through the marking codes and making changes, additions and excisions based on what the teacher has indicated.

From time to time, the teacher sets learners the challenge of focussing on one of the four areas (T, E, Exp or Ev) while producing their work.

This helps them focus their attention on some of the different aspects of creating good quality work in geography.