Marking works — but it isn’t sustainable. Fast Feedback was built to cut workload and turn assessment into measurable reteach.
Teaching has always been a privilege for me. But the workload is massive.
I regularly work evenings and weekends to stay on top of things, and even then, I don’t always feel I’m doing everything I should be — especially when it comes to assessment.
I know the research. If I mark regularly and plan subsequent lessons in direct response to pupil work, progress improves. I know this not just from evidence, but from experience. The classes I’ve taught have consistently outperformed national averages at GCSE and A level.
The problem is that this level of marking is not sustainable. It takes its toll.
I recently read an article stating that over half of teachers have considered leaving the profession in the past 12 months. Marking is a major factor. Done badly, it dramatically increases workload through processes that generate data but offer little clarity about what pupils actually need next.
In my previous role as a Vice Principal, our assessment model was whole-class feedback. Teachers read every piece of work, identified common strengths and misconceptions, and planned reteach tasks accordingly. This approach worked. It reduced pointless tick-and-flick marking and improved consistency.
But it still took hours.
I also knew that if this process happened more frequently, pupil progress would increase further — but expecting that of teachers would have been unreasonable.
When large language models became viable, I saw an opportunity to remove the heavy lifting from marking. At its core, marking is pattern recognition: comparing a pupil’s response to a model answer or mark scheme. That is exactly the approach Fast Feedback takes for extended responses.
Fast Feedback also automatically generates individual feedback and measurable reteach tasks. A teacher can assess or upload work in ten minutes on a Tuesday morning and have personalised feedback and follow-up tasks ready for pupils the next day.
As a school leader, that is a game changer. It allows me to promote a genuinely effective feedback model without contributing to burnout.
Teachers don’t leave the profession because they don’t care about assessment. They leave because the systems around it are inefficient and disconnected from what happens next in the classroom.
I’ve always believed feedback should be measurable. With Fast Feedback, pupils complete a short follow-up task linked directly to their misconceptions. If they demonstrate secure understanding, they’re stretched with extension questions. The same process works online or on paper.
Fast Feedback is designed to slot into — or replace — outdated marking policies. The Oak-aligned question bank (40,000+ questions) makes getting started easy, but it’s only part of the picture.
I’m excited to see where this goes.