Tickled Pink/Green for Growth
A colour-coded feedback system where pink highlights strengths (things the teacher is "tickled pink" about) and green highlights areas for growth, making feedback visual and immediately actionable.
What is tickled pink/green for growth?
- Mark learner work using two colours: pink for strengths and green for areas to develop
- Highlight or underline specific sections in pink where the work meets or exceeds criteria
- Highlight or underline in green where improvement is needed
- Learners respond to the green highlights by making improvements
How it works
Tickled pink/green for growth replaces traditional marking with a visual feedback system. Instead of written comments scattered throughout a piece of work, colour coding makes feedback immediately visible. A learner opening their book sees at a glance where their strengths are (pink) and where they need to improve (green).
The colours carry specific meanings that learners quickly internalise. Pink means "this is good, keep doing this." Green means "this needs attention, this is where you can grow." The positive framing of green ("growth" rather than "mistakes") is deliberate and important for maintaining learner motivation.
The teacher highlights or underlines specific words, sentences, or sections in the appropriate colour. A pink highlight on a paragraph tells the learner: this paragraph is strong. A green highlight on another tells them: this paragraph needs work. The specificity of the highlighting is more useful than a general comment at the bottom of the page because the learner knows exactly which part of their work is being evaluated.
The response phase is essential. After receiving colour-coded feedback, learners must address the green. They might rewrite a highlighted section, add missing detail, correct errors, or improve vocabulary. This active response turns feedback into learning.
Classroom example
A Year 5 Mathematics and Numeracy class in a Vale of Glamorgan school has completed word problems. The teacher marks using pink and green highlighters. Pink highlights correct methods and clear working. Green highlights a common error: several learners converted the answer correctly but forgot to include the units. The green highlighting makes the pattern visible. In the next lesson, learners focus on the green sections, and the teacher addresses the units issue with the whole class.
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Tickled pink/green for growth develops the "Reflect" strand of thinking skills by making feedback visual and specific. It supports cross-curricular literacy through targeted improvement of written work and works across all AoLEs as a consistent, age-appropriate feedback system.
Rainbow Curriculum's Thinking Tools lens helps you plan where visual feedback systems are used across your curriculum, ensuring that marking is consistent, efficient, and leads to improvement.
Tips
- Be selective with the green. Too much green is demoralising. Highlight the most impactful areas for improvement.
- Balance the colours. Even in weaker work, there will be something to highlight in pink.
- A common pitfall: highlighting in green without giving time to respond. The green is only useful if learners act on it.
- Use consistently across subjects so learners do not have to learn a different feedback system for each teacher.
- Combine with two stars and a wish: the pink highlights are the stars, the green highlight is the wish.
Related tools
Closing the Gap Comments
Focused written feedback that bridges the gap between what a learner has achieved and what they could achieve, using reminder, scaffolded or example prompts.
Feedback Using Comments Only
A marking approach where teachers provide written comments without grades, marks or levels, because research shows grades destroy the learning value of feedback.
Next Steps
A feedback strategy where the teacher provides specific, actionable comments that show learners exactly what to do to improve, rather than simply grading or praising their work.
Traffic Lighting
A self-assessment system where learners indicate their understanding using traffic light colours: green (confident), amber (partly confident), and red (not confident), providing instant visual feedback to teacher and learner.
Two or Three Stars and a Wish
A feedback framework where learners identify two or three strengths (stars) in a piece of work and one area for improvement (a wish), creating balanced feedback that motivates and guides.
Source: Adapted from "How to develop thinking and assessment for learning in the classroom", Welsh Assembly Government, Guidance 044/2010.