Peer Marking

Peer marking gives learners practice in evaluating work against criteria. This is a high-value thinking activity because it requires learners to understand what quality looks like before they can assess someone else's work. The evaluative skills they develop transfer directly to improving their own work.

Success criteria must be clear and shared before the task begins. If learners do not know what they are looking for, peer marking becomes subjective and unhelpful. Display the criteria prominently and discuss what each criterion means with examples of what it looks like when met and when not met.

When learners mark a partner's work, they should identify strengths first, then suggest one specific improvement. This structure prevents feedback from becoming negative or vague. "You have used three different sentence starters, which meets criterion two. To improve, you could add a connective at the start of your third paragraph to link your ideas together." This kind of feedback is more useful than "good" or "needs more detail."

The response phase is essential. After receiving peer feedback, learners must have time to read it, decide whether they agree, and make changes if appropriate. This creates a complete feedback cycle: produce, evaluate, improve.

Peer marking develops the "Reflect" strand of thinking skills by building learners' capacity to evaluate quality and give constructive feedback. It supports the Four Purposes by developing "ambitious, capable learners" who understand assessment criteria and "ethical, informed citizens" who can offer respectful, honest feedback.

Rainbow Curriculum's Thinking Tools lens helps you plan where peer assessment is embedded across your curriculum, building a consistent culture of feedback and improvement.