Marking: Ofsted issues new guidance following EEF report

In April, the EEF (Education Endowment Foundation) published A Marked Improvement?, a review commissioned of the evidence on written marking. Its central conclusion was that though marking plays a central role in teacher's work, there is very little evidence on which strategies are most effective.

Ofsted's latest 'School inspection update' (here) cites the EEF's report in its message to inspectors:

"As both the Workload Review group on marking (March 2016) and the Education Endowment Foundation (April 2016) reported, there is remarkably little high quality, relevant research evidence to suggest that detailed or extensive marking has any significant impact on pupils’ learning. So until such evidence is available, and regardless of any area for improvement identified at the previous inspection, please do not report on marking practice, or make judgements on it, other than whether it follows the school’s assessment policy. Also, please do not seek to attribute the degree of progress that pupils have made to marking that you consider to be either effective or ineffective. When reporting, please do not make recommendations for improvement that involve marking, other than when the school’s marking/assessment policy is not being followed by a substantial proportion of teachers; this will then be an issue for the leadership and management to resolve."