Quality Feedback Improving Grades
- Consistent, exam-quality feedback
- Driving up GCSE results
The Goal
The Challenge Academy Trust (TCAT) sought to standardise the quality and consistency of writing assessments across its English departments to drive improved GCSE outcomes. The primary objective was to ensure every student, regardless of their teacher’s experience level, received high-quality, actionable feedback. By supporting ECTs and ITT teachers with a deeper understanding of exam criteria, the Trust aimed to create a more reactive “teach–assess–reteach” cycle that could immediately address misconceptions and bridge learning gaps.
The Impact with Olex
- 13% uplift in GCSE English Literature results at Grade 5
- 2-minute turnaround to generate comprehensive whole-class feedback and individual next steps
- Accuracy in grading, with Olex’s marks aligning precisely with senior leadership’s “notional level” assessments
- Instant intervention via automated lesson plans designed to address specific “priority next steps” identified during the assessment
- Significant workload reduction, allowing teachers to focus on high-impact planning and student engagement rather than manual marking
“The most impressive thing about Olex for me is how it can generate ‘priority next steps,’ after assessing a whole class worth of work in minutes. This ensures I can be both reactive and proactive in my teaching, reteaching and stretching pupils in that same lesson!”
Kaye Blundell, Beaumont Academy, TCAT
How They Did It
- The teacher creates the assignment on Olex and chooses the marking criteria
- Students log onto Olex, and complete the assessment in 45 minutes
- Teacher clicks “Run OlexAI”
- Within 2 minutes, whole class feedback has been produced
- Individual student feedback is generated and a notation grade
- Olex creates a lesson plan to address the ‘areas for development’ generated
“We saw a 13% uplift in our Lit results this year at grade 5. A few reasons for this but one was definitely the frequency we could produce and assess student essays on Olex so thank you for that”
Sarah Mullen, Improvement Lead for English, TCAT
Sarah Mullen talking about marking accuracy
What’s Next?
- Explore supporting EAL learners
- Explore how OLEX can be used in the humanities subjects
- Use OIexAnalytics for running trust-wide end of KS3 assessments in June
“Working on Olex.AI to support writing English Literature essays has been really helpful. Getting instant feedback and areas to work on has helped me improve from a grade 3 to 6.”
Madison, Year 11 student, Beaumont Academy
Quality Feedback Improving Grades
Consistent, high-quality feedback
Accurate marking aligned with senior examiners
The Goal
The Challenge Academy Trust (TCAT) sought to standardise the quality and consistency of writing assessments across its English departments to drive improved GCSE outcomes. The primary objective was to ensure every student, regardless of their teacher’s experience level, received high-quality, actionable feedback. By supporting ECTs and ITT teachers with a deeper understanding of exam criteria, the Trust aimed to create a more reactive “teach–assess–reteach” cycle that could immediately address misconceptions and bridge learning gaps.
13%
Increase in GCSE Grade 5 (English Literature)
100%
Accuracy in grading (vs Senior Markers)
The Impact
- 13% uplift in GCSE English Literature results at Grade 5
- 2-minute turnaround to generate comprehensive whole-class feedback and individual next steps
- Accuracy in grading, with Olex’s marks aligning precisely with senior leadership’s “notional level” assessments
- Instant intervention via automated lesson plans designed to address specific “priority next steps” identified during the assessment
- Significant workload reduction, allowing teachers to focus on
high-impact planning and student engagement rather than
manual marking
"The most impressive thing about Olex for me is how it can generate ‘priority next steps,’ after assessing a whole class worth of work in minutes. This ensures I can be both reactive and proactive in my teaching, reteaching and stretching pupils in that same lesson!"
Kaye Blundell, Beaumont Academy, TCAT
How They Did It
- The teacher creates the assignment on Olex and chooses the marking criteria
- Students log onto Olex, and complete the assessment in 45 minutes
- Teacher clicks “Run OlexAI”
- Within 2 minutes, whole class feedback has been produced
- Individual student feedback is generated and a notation grade
- Olex creates a lesson plan to address the ‘areas for development’ generated
"We saw a 13% uplift in our Lit results this year at grade 5. A few reasons for this but one was definitely the frequency we could produce and assess student essays on Olex so thank you for that"
Sarah Mullen, Improvement Lead for English, TCAT
Sarah Mullen talking about marking accuracy
What's Next?
- Explore supporting EAL learners
- Explore how OLEX can be used in the humanities subjects
- Use OIexAnalytics for running trust-wide end of KS3 assessments in June
“Working on Olex.AI to support writing English Literature essays has been really helpful. Getting instant feedback and areas to work on has helped me improve from a grade 3 to 6.”
Madison, Year 11 student, Beaumont Academy