“Wow! I was not expecting pie charts in English!”

A lot of students think English is vague.

Usually because nobody has properly shown them where the marks actually go, and how to earn them.

This Macbeth feedback ended up including:

• colour-coded examiner thinking
• AO balance tracking
• comparative modelling
• structural diagnosis
• and, somehow, pie charts.

(He’s a maths whizz. I thought this would help. And it did.)

That original paragraph was already intelligent. The issue wasn’t ‘knowledge’.

It was how that knowledge was meeting the mark scheme.

Too much explanation.
Not enough analysis or technical method.
Almost no contextual detail or evaluative link.

The kind of things generic feedback rarely catches visibly enough for students to act on. A huge factor in why bright, committed students don’t get the marks they deserve.

So instead of writing: “develop AO2” … I try to show students precisely what that means in practice.

In whatever way will best cut through to them.

Often, asking questions is the best way to secure learning:

• “How would an examiner experience this paragraph?”
• “What is this sentence doing?”
• “Where are the marks accumulating?”
• “How do we rebalance it?”

And:

• “What can you learn from this example I’ve written specifically for you?”

Strong English results usually come from disciplined thinking, not mysterious talent.

(Though apparently they can also come with pie charts now.)

If this is the kind of support you our your child would benefit from, get in touch.

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Think freely. Then earn it.