Universities’ policies on feedback speed do not meaningfully predict students’ satisfaction with assessment and feedback
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19378472 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robert A Nash (0000-0002-2284-2001, National Institute of Teaching, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 649-660 |
| Publication date | 2025-05-19 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0260-2938 • E-ISSN: 1469-297X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02602938.2025.2450226 |
| OpenAlex | W4406292042 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 41 |
It is widely believed that an essential property of feedback’s effectiveness is its timeliness, and students frequently report untimely feedback as a significant source of dissatisfaction in their studies. Most UK universities have responded by implementing institutional policies that stipulate a time-period within which students should receive feedback on the assessments they submit. These policies serve to enhance the student experience, but concerns are well-documented about their side effects on feedback quality and staff well-being. The present study involved a secondary analysis of UK universities’ policies on feedback turnaround times, examining to what extent these are associated with variation in students’ satisfaction with assessment and feedback, as measured by the National Student Survey. Overall, the number of turnaround days permitted in feedback policies was negatively – but weakly and nonsignificantly – associated with overall student satisfaction in this domain. Feedback policy was associated more strongly with student satisfaction in the domain of organisation and management, which raises pertinent questions about causal pathways. University leaders are advised to be wary of expecting that mandating ever-quicker feedback will deliver meaningful benefits to student satisfaction. They are advised to look elsewhere if they seek to have a worthwhile positive impact on student satisfaction and feedback quality
Higher education · Mathematics education · Medical education · Pedagogy · Peer feedback · Political science · Evaluation of Teaching Practices · Higher Education Learning Practices · Psychology · Student Assessment and Feedback
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| Highly cited | No |
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