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In this passionate and thoughtful article, renowned piano pedagogue and best-selling author KAREN MARSHALL argues that exam feedback can combine rigorous standardised assessment with empathetic, accessible child-friendly language.
Please note: this article expresses the author’s own professional views and does not necessarily represent those of any organisation she has worked with.
Can exam feedback be both rigorous and child-friendly?
When a nine-year-old child opens their music exam report, what do we hope happens next? Ideally, they read a few lines of warm, constructive feedback, feel a surge of pride in their hard work, and head back to the piano with a genuine spark of curiosity about what to explore next.
From my experience, exam boards genuinely want to encourage students. Having authored and advised on pedagogy resources for awarding bodies like ABRSM and LCM Examinations, I know firsthand that their core mission is to foster a lifelong love of music.
Yet, as teachers, how often do we sit with parents who are utterly baffled by the words on the mark sheet?
A recent example
Consider a recent Grade 2 Performance Exam report (shared here with explicit parental permission, with all identifying details removed):
Piece 1: “Stately tempo properties were engaged and coupled to some crisp, well-defined articulation. Ornaments were stylistic and mainly metrical. Pitching proved to be well centred throughout.”
Piece 2: “Aspects of shapeliness were retained overall while the soft dynamics found reliable representation…”
Piece 3: “Dance-like rhythmical inflections established characterfully and briskly… middling bars needed further stability of pulse.”
Overall performance: “Technical matters relating to pitch and rhythmical control required further stability… the soundscape was aptly blended…”
The student’s mother turned to me at the next lesson and simply asked,
“Karen, what is this actually telling us? I’ve decided not to show it to my child.”
Her confusion is completely understandable, as is the decision to keep it away from the student.
For a parent supporting daily practice at home (even one who plays a little piano), phrases like “middling bars needed further stability of pulse” offer very little practical guidance. Does it mean using a metronome, counting aloud, slowing down, or asking the teacher?
A parent can support practice enormously, but only if the feedback gives them something concrete they can actually understand and reinforce at home.
What Is an Exam Report Actually For?
Examiners have an immensely demanding job, assessing complex performances in real time while ensuring absolute fairness. They are tasked with writing a report that is consistent, defensible, and rigidly tied to assessment criteria.
But this brings us to a fundamental question we need to ask as a profession: to what extent do we separate the examiner’s and the teacher’s roles?
Examiners are trained to measure outcomes against a national standard; teachers are trained to nurture the human being sitting on the piano bench.
When mark sheets rely heavily on dense, administrative jargon, it exposes a deeper systemic issue: to what extent do standardise reporting systems allow examiners to communicate instrument-specific feedback in language that learners and parents can readily understand?
Based on my own teaching experience and accredited initial teacher training, a young child fundamentally needs three simple things from feedback:
- What did I do well?
- What is the main thing to work on?
- How do I improve it?
Formal assessment criteria support consistency, but they don’t automatically function as direct learning feedback for the student.
The Purpose of Feedback
Assessment is not only about recording what a learner has achieved; it should actively help learning move forward. Dylan Wiliam’s work on embedded formative assessment highlights the importance of using evidence of learning to decide what should happen next, while Susan M. Brookhart’s work on feedback explores how comments can help learners take that next crucial step.
The importance of actionable feedback is also reflected in Ofsted’s Striking the Right Note report on music education. It highlights the value of ongoing feedback that improves pupils’ music-making, both technically and expressively, and of being clear about what high-quality musical responses sound like.
If that principle matters in everyday music teaching, it’s worth asking whether their distinct role really requires that external music exam boards operate in a parallel universe where child-friendly language is an afterthought.
The Teacher as Interpreter
In the meantime, instrumental teachers remain crucial, working as translators. When decoding examiner language, we balance encouragement with clear, honest direction. The goal isn’t to soften critique into empty praise, but to make it actionable:
Examiner writes: “Left hand statements required additional presence and definition.”
Translation: “Your left hand got a bit lost. Let’s bring it forward so we can hear its melody clearly.”
Teacher advice: Play the left-hand part alone while singing or humming the right-hand tune.
Examiner writes: “Middling bars needed further stability of pulse.”
Translation: “The rhythm hurried a little bit in the middle.”
Teacher advice: March the beat while playing those specific bars.
Examiner writes: “The soundscape was aptly blended with some supportive pedalling…”
Translation: “Your pedal work gave the music a lovely warm colour, but a few spots got a little bit muddy.”
Teacher advice: Practise lifting your foot cleanly right on the chord changes to keep the sound crystal clear.
A Two-Layered Way Forward
Ofqual’s General Conditions of Recognition set out important regulatory expectations around clear communication and appropriate guidance. While these frameworks are directed at awarding organisations, they highlight a wonderful opportunity: could awarding bodies do more to help learners, teachers, and parents understand what assessment feedback actually means?
So, what if awarding bodies didn’t have to choose between formal assessment and child-friendly feedback? Instead of replacing standard terminology, a mark sheet could simply present a dual format:
| Formal Assessment Comment | Child-Friendly Next Step |
| Pitching: “Pitching proved to be well centred throughout.” | Great job! You played your notes accurately throughout the piece. |
| Rhythm: “Technical matters relating to rhythmical control required further stability.” | Try this: Listen carefully to the pulse in the middle section. Clap the beat while listening to your teacher play those specific bars. |
The formal comment remains intact—nothing is lost from the official assessment record. But alongside it sits a practical translation that the learner, and their parents, can actually use at home. We don’t need to choose between rigour and kindness, or between automated standardisation and accessible language; we can have both.
Perhaps the ultimate test of an exam report is whether, after reading it, a child knows what they did well, understands how to improve, and feels genuinely inspired to sit back down at the instrument to try again.
For Further Reading:
- Wiliam, D. Embedded Formative Assessment (2011).
- Brookhart, S. M. How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students (2008).
- Ofqual, General Conditions of Recognition.
- Ofsted, Striking the Right Note: The Music Subject Report (2023).
Karen Marshall
Having taught piano for 35 years, Karen Marshall brings broad classroom and instrumental experience to her work, supported by a secondary music PGCE with QTS.
A dedicated advocate for accessible learning, she has authored over 35 music education titles, including Faber Music’s PianoTrainer series, ABRSM’s Encore and Encore Plus, Collins’ Music and Neurodiversity teacher/parent guide, and the popular Get Set! Piano series.
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