Achieving mastery: Pupils' perspectives on engaging with feedback and assessment in secondary school

Assessment and feedback play a key role in pupils’ learning at all levels of education. However, there is much debate about whether feedback, in particular, is given in a way that is effective, constructive and timely enough for pupils to act on it (Winstone & Boud, 2020). Certainly, many pupils view feedback as problematic and challenging, and as something they struggle to comprehend. Although identified as important and essential to learning, limited research has examined how pupils perceive and use feedback in secondary education contexts (Quinlan & Pitt, 2021). Moreover, few educational studies to date have focused on the voices of young people in this area, especially those considered ‘high achieving’.