From Idea to Impact: The Five Features of Feedback - a collaboration between BTE academics and student Lead Reps

The idea

As Learning, Teaching, and Assessment (LTA) leaders within BTE, we've had the privilege this year of collaborating with an exceptional group of student Lead Reps who are committed to driving positive change. Through the student voice process, our Lead Reps—Rahul Bakhtiana, James Christian, Cameron Swan and Seethal Thomas—identified an opportunity raised by some students regarding inconsistencies in the summative assessment feedback they received. In response, they approached Joel Gray, BTE AD for Teaching, Learning and Student Success, with a proposal to work with us to review the existing guidance provided to academic staff on feedback, with the aim of identifying potential areas for improvement.

A collaborative working group was established within BTE, bringing together our Lead Reps, Joel Gray, and all BTE Associate Heads and Associate Professors with responsibility for Learning, Teaching, and Assessment - Giovanna Battiston, Sue Beckingham, Vicky Mellon and Jo Winfield. Together, we set out to explore the core principles of what makes summative feedback truly effective. The result? Our Five Features of Feedback guidance that elevates feedback from a routine task to a tool for real impact.

The process

As a group, we recognised the importance of ensuring that any new feedback guidance we developed was both credible and grounded in evidence. To achieve this, the Lead Reps designed and distributed a survey to gather student perspectives on what constitutes effective summative feedback. At the same time, the academic team conducted a literature scoping exercise to explore current external research on the topic. We then compared our findings and were encouraged to see strong alignment between student views and the literature. Both emphasised the importance of feedback being timely, that it should highlight strengths and weaknesses, and offer support for future development.

Building on these findings, and in close collaboration with the Lead Reps, the academic team developed new guidance for summative assessment feedback. Designed with the structure of the university’s LTA framework in mind, this guidance is titled The Five Features of Feedback and is built around five core features of: 1) Inclusion, 2) Timeliness, 3) A strong and specific start and finish, 4) Overall strengths and weaknesses, and 5) Future facing.

The guidance was soft launched at the BTE Apprenticeship Day in May 2025, where we gathered valuable feedback from academic colleagues. Based on that input, appropriate refinements were made. The final version is now available to all staff, and we strongly encourage everyone involved in marking summative assessments to review the guidance and apply it wherever possible within their own practice.

As with all good practice, this guidance is intended to be dynamic and responsive, we therefore welcome ongoing suggestions for improvement. Please don’t hesitate to share your ideas with your School’s Associate Head or Associate Professor with responsibility for LTA.

The impact

Ultimately, The Five Features of Feedback guidance is designed to benefit our students by enabling them to engage more effectively with clearer, more meaningful summative feedback. Just as importantly, the project has had a significant impact on us as a team. Collaborating not only across the college but also directly with our students has been an incredibly rewarding experience, demonstrating the real value of partnership in driving positive change. At the close of the project, we invited two of our Lead Reps, Cameron and Rahul, to share their reflections on the experience. Here’s what they had to say:

On behalf of the academic team, we’d like to extend our thanks to our outstanding Lead Reps for their valuable contributions to this project. We're confident they’ll agree that the personal development gained through this collaborative work has been truly meaningful. It’s been a privilege to work alongside such dedicated individuals - we have no doubt they’ll go on to make a real impact wherever their paths take them next. We now look forward to continuing our collaboration with future Lead Reps on SoTL projects that enrich the student experience and streamline academic processes. If you're interested in getting involved, please reach out to the LTA Lead in your School.

Giovanna Battiston	Sue Beckingham
g.battiston@shu.ac.uk	s.beckingham@shu.ac.uk
Giovanna Battiston	Sue Beckingham
Vicky Mellon	Jo Winfield
v.mellon@shu.ac.uk	j.winfield@shu.ac.uk
Vicky Mellon	Jo Winfield