Here is what the common ones mean and how to use them without stepping on the teacher.
What can the margin notes on your child’s essay tell you?
They tell you more than the grade does. The grade sums up the essay, but the margin notes show, line by line, exactly what to change. You do not need English training to read them, only a few common phrases.
Why do comments matter more than the grade?
Two essays can get the same mark for very different reasons. One may have strong ideas but careless errors; another may be accurate but shallow. Only the comments tell you which.
Once you know whether the issue was analysis, structure, accuracy or answering the question, you can support the right thing. Our guide to reading the school’s English report applies the same idea to a full report.
What do the common notes mean?
- “Explain” or “develop”: your child made a point but did not say why it matters. This is the most common thing holding capable students back.
- “So what?”: a blunter version of the same note. Now say what effect it has.
- “Answer the question” or “focus”: the writing drifted away from the task.
- “Evidence?”: a claim needs a quotation or detail to support it.
- “Expression” or “awkward”: a sentence does not quite work.
- “Vary”: the sentences have fallen into a repetitive pattern.
- Ticks: something worked well, which is just as useful to know.
What is the final comment really saying?
The comment at the end names the teacher’s main priority. Read it as a to-do list, not a verdict. “A thoughtful response that needs closer analysis” means go deeper on fewer points.
“Well structured but drifts from the question” names one specific, fixable habit. Our note on spotting weak writing helps you see these patterns in the writing itself.
Advice like this is easier to act on with a teacher beside you. A paid one-hour trial starts from your child's own writing.
How can you use the notes without stepping on the teacher?
Do not add your own corrections or argue with the mark in front of your child. That confuses the student and undermines the teacher. Instead, ask: “What does your teacher want you to do differently next time?”
That question puts your child in charge of their own feedback. If a note puzzles you both, your child can ask the teacher politely. Detailed marking criteria are on the qualification pages.
How do you track progress from the notes?
Watch which comments repeat. If “explain the effect” appears on three essays in a row, that is the one habit to work on. When a note that always appeared stops appearing, that is real progress, whatever the grade says.
What if there are hardly any comments?
A class teacher marking a large set cannot write detailed notes on every essay. Sparse marking is usually about workload, not neglect. Encourage your child to ask, “What would I need to do to move this up?”
If marking is too thin to use across many pieces, raise it calmly at a parents’ evening as wanting to support your child.
How our teachers turn feedback into change
Many students get the same comment again and again because no one has shown them how to act on it. Our experienced teachers read the student’s work closely, explain what “develop this” means in practice and rehearse the fix on their own writing until it sticks. This close, individual feedback is at the heart of our one-to-one IGCSE English tuition, and you can read more about how we teach.
If your child keeps getting the same notes, bring a recent marked essay to a paid one-hour trial lesson. The teacher will go through it with your child and turn the comments into one clear next step.