I’m always wishing I’d started my formative assignments just that little bit earlier, only realising as the deadline impedes, how useful they are for my progression. So first, to get the most out of your formative feedback, don’t be like me! Make sure you’re leaving enough time to complete your formatives and putting in the effort as you really want to maximise the benefit you can get from them. Your formatives are your best preparation for your summative coursework, which counts towards your final grade.

Once you have received your feedback on your formative, ensure you sit and take the time to properly read through it to really understand where all the points apply. No skimming through! Sometimes certain errors pointed out will seem obvious on reflection, but other parts of your feedback might leave you feeling confused and perhaps with more questions. You might even disagree with it! This is productive and shows you’re thinking critically about your feedback. You just need to make sure you act on any confusion you encounter.

Seeking out further feedback and time to ask these unresolved questions with your teacher is therefore beneficial. Book in for an office hour, or ask your teacher at the end of a seminar if they have five minutes to spare. They will be delighted you’re making the effort to take your feedback seriously. Use this time to ask questions to try and understand your teacher’s thought process. Perhaps you could even rewrite parts of your formative and discuss this with your tutor to check for improvements.

Why stop at talking to your tutor? Discuss your feedback with classmates, your personal tutor, and even with LSE LIFE who provide frequent workshops on topics such as essay writing, referencing, and advice on further ways to make the most of your coursework feedback.

However, what’s feedback if it’s not applied to your next piece of coursework, be it another formative or the real deal? I recommend writing down your feedback into easily digestible bullet points and referring back to them throughout the process of producing your next assignment, checking back once completed to make sure you’ve incorporated everything.

Formative feedback can be hard to stomach sometimes, especially when you think you’ve done better than turns out to be the case. Don’t let it dishearten you, take it on board, and let it motivate you to strive for the best next time. Formative feedback is really key to getting to grips with what is expected from your department in terms of content and style of writing for your summative assessments, so take advantage of it!