Written by Amber Darr^†

The academic journey of all students, whether at the undergraduate or postgraduate level, is often marked by an intense focus on grades. This focus quickly turns to anxiety as students approach end-of-term summative assessments, especially if the summative is the sole basis for their final grade. While the anxiety is understandable it is also deeply unfortunate because it detracts from the pleasure of learning which should be the essence of all meaningful academic encounters.

In this blog I argue that the formative assessment holds the untapped potential of shaping not only what students learn but also how they learn. In particular, a formative can help students engage constructively with qualitative feedback rather than weighing their performance simply in terms of a numeric grade. Further, by allowing students to rehearse the skill of tackling assessments, the formative can also help pre-pave the summative and thereby diminish the anxiety associated with the summative.

In the Law Department at the University of Manchester, I have experimented with various strategies to reframe formative assessments as a central, empowering part of the learning process—one that fosters reflection, ownership, and deeper engagement. In 2024-2025 with support from the School of Social Sciences Scholarship (SOSS) Fund, I piloted a project within the Year 3 undergraduate module LAWS30451: Competition Law in an International Context to explore exactly that. The results were both illuminating and encouraging.

A three-dimensional framework for enhancing Formative Assessments

The underlying rationale for formative assessments is to provide feedback to students to guide improvement ahead of the summative. However, given that formatives are generally optional, students—and sometimes even faculty—perceive them as or secondary if not unnecessary. This project sought to challenge that perception by embedding formative assessments more meaningfully into the student experience and by engaging with three distinct, yet interrelated dimensions of student experience: the pedagogical, neurological and the practical.

(a) The pedagogical dimension

The project built upon the already considerable evidence in existing literature that formative assessment—ongoing feedback through self and peer evaluation—can significantly enhance learning outcomes. Literature further suggested that rather than relying solely on final exams or grades, formative methods encourage students to reflect, engage, and take ownership of their progress. Studies by Black & William (1998) and Sun et al. (2014) reveal that formative assessment leads to measurable improvements in performance and deeper understanding of subject matter. Other studies, such as the one by Wanner & Palmer (2018) suggest that peer and self-assessment build critical thinking, communication, and feedback literacy—skills essential for academic and professional success. They also argue that students learn more effectively when they are active participants in the assessment process. Recent material developed by the University of Reading supports the view that incremental grading approaches, where students assess their work progressively, reduce procrastination and foster continuous learning. This shift transforms assessment from a one-time judgment into a meaningful part of the learning journey.

(b) The neurological dimension

The project also integrated core Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) techniques such as modelling, anchoring and reframing and experiential learning to intervene appropriately in process of learning. The idea of focusing on the formative assessment and to make it interesting was derived from the NLP techniques of ‘anchoring and reframing’ which help learners associate positive emotions with learning tasks and reframe challenges as opportunities, fostering resilience and continuous progress. Encouraging students to undertake the formative assessment by linking it with an extra-curricular competition and by providing feedback in a way that engaged more hearing as well as sight, was rooted in NLP’s emphasis on ‘sensory-based, experiential learning’ which recognizes that people learn differently—visually, auditorily, or kinesthetically—and allows them to engage different senses in the course of learning. The peer review component was developed on the NLP technique of ‘Modelling Excellence’ which encourages learners to model successful behaviours and thought patterns, allowing them to build skills gradually through observation and practice—ideal for incremental learning.

(c) The practical dimension

More importantly, the project followed sound practical strategy. It sought to offer students a more holistic understanding of the marking criteria and performance expectations while they still had time to act on feedback. It emphasized that formative assessment is not just about feedback but also about empowering students to learn better, together. In this way the approach adopted in the project aligned also aligns with several of University of Manchester’s teaching and learning priorities, including enhancing teaching quality, delivering a transformative student experience, and helping students realise their full potential.

The Project in Practice

The project offered LAWS30451 students (2024-2025 cohort), the opportunity to engage in a three-stage formative assessment process:

• Stage 1: students were given 3 weeks commencing immediately after the reading week in November 2024, to complete an essay or a problem question. The completed formative was submitted directly to me as the course convenor.
• Stage 2: the submitted formatives were fully anonymised by replacing the student’s name with a serial number. These were distributed to participating peers who were then asked to provide feedback using guidance notes (provided by me) and to ascribe a mark in accordance with the marking criteria. Students had 1 week to return the marked formatives to.
• Stage 3: I then reviewed each formative and provided feedback on the formative and on the peer feedback and mark. The feedback was recorded as I reviewed the formative by casting it on the screen via Zoom. Each video was of 3-5 minute duration.
• Stage 4: I downloaded the recording, saved it as an mp4 file and then uploaded it in a dedicated section on the course blackboard page. I took care to preserve full anonymity by ensuring the file was saved only by the allocated serial number (see Stage 2).
• Stage 5: Emails were sent to each participating student informing them that the videos had been published. Students were advised to watch two videos in particular (one on their formative and the other on their feedback) and were encouraged to watch as many other videos as they liked. An email was also sent to all students (whether participating or not) indicating two sample videos that related to two strong formatives, one per formative question.

To evaluate the impact, feedback forms were released to students at two points:

• Form 1 was released a week after the formative feedback videos had been uploaded (see Stage 5).
• Form 2 was released after the summative assessment had been completed.

Students were encouraged to complete the forms on the promise of being entered into a prize draw where three randomly selected students would be given gift vouchers worth £50 each.

Insights from the data

Out of the 67 students enrolled on the course, 43 (64%) completed the formative and provided feedback. 30 students (45%) completed Form 1, and 22 (33%) completed Form 2. The data collated through the forms offered encouraging insights as detailed below.

(a) High participation and engagement

The figures suggest that participating students found the formative very valuable. 87% of students who completed Form 1, and 91% of those who completed Form 2 had participated in the formative assessment exercise. Of those who had participated in the exercise, 81% found it useful to see how their peers were approaching the question, 89% found the guidance notes very useful and appreciated the engagement with the marking criteria. 96% expected that the exercise would be helpful (73% very helpful, 23% somewhat helpful) in approaching the summative. Of those who had not participated in the formative exercise, 75% thought they should have participated after seeing how the project had proceeded and planned to watch the feedback videos.

(b) Feedback: peer review and video feedback

Students appreciated the opportunity to assess a peer’s work, which helped them better understand the marking criteria and reflect on their own submissions. One student noted that the exercise was ‘helpful and informative,’ while another appreciated the “format and structure” of the peer review. However, one student expressed concern about receiving feedback from a peer who had approached the question differently leading her to ‘second-guess’ her own work.

The video feedback was well received. One student noted that it ‘was the most useful and informative bit of feedback … ever received whilst studying at uni’. Another student noted that ‘Although I am used to getting feedback in writing, the video feedback format was useful in a way that I wouldn’t have expected…via video the feedback was concise and direct – with written feedback sometimes it is unclear what the marker wanted to say. The video style marking is very clear and you’re able to see the markers thinking process behind every feedback point – very useful.’ However, some students also felt that the video was ‘rushed’ and others noted that it was the additional class discussion after the videos had been released that helped them fully understand the feedback.

Many students watched multiple videos, not just their own or their peers’ and many others indicated that they would be watching several more videos ahead of the summative. 73% believed the video feedback would be very helpful for the summative assessment. This suggests that students valued seeing how feedback applied to real submissions and were keen to learn from a variety of examples. The visual and auditory format of video feedback appeared to enhance understanding and engagement.

(c) Impact on Summative Performance

The impact of participating in the formative exercise on attainment in the summative has been measured not only through responses to Form 2 but also from an independent review of the participants’ marks in the summative.

The responses to Form 2 indicate students who engaged more deeply with the feedback materials felt better prepared for the final assessment. 20 students (91%) watched the feedback videos. 27% watched all feedback videos; 14% watched the videos for their own formative and the one they had marked; and 23% watched videos that had been highlighted as examples. 15 students (68%) stated that completing the formative and watching the videos was very helpful in the summative, 23% found completing the formative exercise to be beneficial and 9% stated that the exercise could have helped if they had engaged with it.

This perception is borne out by the review of the marks attained by students who had completed the formative exercise. 41 of the 43 students who had participated in the formative exercise completed all components of the summative. Of these 41, 20 students (49%) attained a 1st in the course unit, 19 (46%) attained an upper second, whilst 1 (2%) attained a lower second. The review further suggests that 80% of the students improved their mark in the summative component they had practiced for their formative.

Looking ahead: scaling, sharing and limitations

While the project highlighted certain students’ reluctance to experiment with methods teaching and learning it was largely successful in meaningfully engaging students at the formative stage to prepare them more fully for the summative and encouraging them to think critically about their work and the standards expected. This confirms the value of thoughtfully embedding formative assessments and giving students a voice and offers a model which may be adapted in other programmes in SOSS and the University. At its core, this project was about more than just improving grades—it was about improving learning by breaking it down into small, manageable chunks. As one student put it, “It helped me understand what good work looks like—and how to get there.” And that, ultimately, is the goal of all academic journeys.

† The author holds a PhD in Law from UCL and teaches competition law (both undergraduate and postgraduate) at the University of Manchester. She is also qualified as an NLP coach. She was assisted in this project by Alicia Smith and Christian Kehoe both undergraduate students from the 2024-25 cohort.