In traditional education systems, grades are often viewed as the endpoint of learning. A single letter, or number, has often been seen as the marker of success, or failure. Yet, research and evidence increasingly suggest that it is feedback, not grades, that truly drives meaningful student progress. At Fruitify, we’re on a mission to empower educators with intelligent feedback systems that elevate student learning through clarity, reflection and growth.
So, why does feedback matter more than grades?
Feedback Accelerates Learning
Grades indicate performance at a given moment, but they rarely show students how to improve. Feedback, by contrast, provides clarity and direction on what has been mastered and what comes next relative to learning goals or outcomes.
The Education Endowment Foundation reports that high-quality feedback can accelerate learning progress by 5-7 months in a single school year, also finding feedback to be especially beneficial for low attainers compared to high attainers. This highlights the importance of feedback in giving every student an equal chance to succeed, a key component of Fruitify’s mission to level the educational playing field.
Various studies cite the beneficial effects of feedback on learning outcomes, so, the lesson is clear: when students understand their progress and receive actionable guidance, they learn faster and achieve more compared to receiving a standalone grade.
Feedback Enhances Motivation, Grades can Demotivate
Grades alone often can often create fixed perceptions of ability – “I’m an A student” or “I’ll never get above a C”. For lower-attaining students, poor grades can be especially discouraging, diminishing their motivation to try again, as shown in Butler’s 1988 study.
By contrast, feedback focuses attention on the process of learning rather than the final outcome. Ruth Butler’s influential research showed that students receiving grades alone were less motivated, while those who received task-based comments showed higher engagement and willingness to improve.
Whilst some call for gradeless marking in schools, inaccurately citing Butler’s works to support this contention, the study actually supports the use of “task-involving individual comments” i.e. those related to students’ task performance instead of “ego-involving numerical grades” which are based on students’ relative standing among classmates.
At Fruitify, we understand grading is necessary for tracking performance and improvement, but we want to ensure it is an equal, beneficial process for students. Our marking system is bias-free, with no student information used in the marking process, providing informative, individual comments on specific achievement objectives to guide progress and ensure every student has an equal opportunity to succeed.
Feedback Fosters Reflection and Mastery
Standalone grades close conversations, feedback opens them. Constructive feedback prompts learners to reflect, self-assess, and iterate. Over time, this fosters resilience and a growth mindset, skills that extend far beyond academic results.
Research consistently shows that feedback-rich environments help students regulate their own learning. In practice, this means students shift from asking “What grade did I get?” to “What can I do better next time?”. This subtle but powerful change builds habits of reflection and continuous improvement.
The Role of Technology in Scaling Feedback
If feedback is so powerful, why isn’t it central to every classroom? The reality is time. Teachers with 30+ students cannot provide personalised, detailed feedback for every piece of work without overwhelming their workload (which many do!).
This is where technology can change the equation. AI-powered tools, like Fruitify, now make it possible to deliver instant, personalised feedback at scale, without replacing teacher expertise. Fruitify handles the repetitive elements: suggesting targeted improvements, tracking progress and general admin, whilst also providing accurate predicted marks with explainable reasoning and editable teacher feedback, blending automation with human judgment. This reduces teachers’ workloads giving them a helping-hand in marking, allowing them to focus on dialogue, mentorship and higher-order learning.
A recent 10-week study across Australia and New Zealand found AI-powered feedback facilitated a 47% average improvement in quality of student responses, whilst 87% of students re-engaged with low-scoring work when given the opportunity to revise via the AI feedback loop.
Final Thoughts
Feedback is clearly the key to unlocking student potential, but comments must be task-specific, future-orientated and unbiased to drive student learning and progress. Whilst there is much negativity surrounding grades, we understand that they are a key performance tracker across schools. Fruitify bridges the gap between grades and feedback, combining the two with rational, personalised and task-specific comments to support grade decisions and guide student progression to ensure improvement.
Like teachers and schools across the globe, we are on a mission to positively impact student learning experiences and transform lives through teaching, and Fruitify is the tool to help achieve this mission.
To learn more about how Fruitify can revolutionise your classroom, contact us here.
In traditional education systems, grades are often viewed as the endpoint of learning. A single letter, or number, has often been seen as the marker of success, or failure. Yet, research and evidence increasingly suggest that it is feedback, not grades, that truly drives meaningful student progress. At Fruitify, we’re on a mission to empower educators with intelligent feedback systems that elevate student learning through clarity, reflection and growth.
So, why does feedback matter more than grades?
Feedback Accelerates Learning
Grades indicate performance at a given moment, but they rarely show students how to improve. Feedback, by contrast, provides clarity and direction on what has been mastered and what comes next relative to learning goals or outcomes.
The Education Endowment Foundation reports that high-quality feedback can accelerate learning progress by 5-7 months in a single school year, also finding feedback to be especially beneficial for low attainers compared to high attainers. This highlights the importance of feedback in giving every student an equal chance to succeed, a key component of Fruitify’s mission to level the educational playing field.
Various studies cite the beneficial effects of feedback on learning outcomes, so, the lesson is clear: when students understand their progress and receive actionable guidance, they learn faster and achieve more compared to receiving a standalone grade.
Feedback Enhances Motivation, Grades can Demotivate
Grades alone often can often create fixed perceptions of ability – “I’m an A student” or “I’ll never get above a C”. For lower-attaining students, poor grades can be especially discouraging, diminishing their motivation to try again, as shown in Butler’s 1988 study.
By contrast, feedback focuses attention on the process of learning rather than the final outcome. Ruth Butler’s influential research showed that students receiving grades alone were less motivated, while those who received task-based comments showed higher engagement and willingness to improve.
Whilst some call for gradeless marking in schools, inaccurately citing Butler’s works to support this contention, the study actually supports the use of “task-involving individual comments” i.e. those related to students’ task performance instead of “ego-involving numerical grades” which are based on students’ relative standing among classmates.
At Fruitify, we understand grading is necessary for tracking performance and improvement, but we want to ensure it is an equal, beneficial process for students. Our marking system is bias-free, with no student information used in the marking process, providing informative, individual comments on specific achievement objectives to guide progress and ensure every student has an equal opportunity to succeed.
Feedback Fosters Reflection and Mastery
Standalone grades close conversations, feedback opens them. Constructive feedback prompts learners to reflect, self-assess, and iterate. Over time, this fosters resilience and a growth mindset, skills that extend far beyond academic results.
Research consistently shows that feedback-rich environments help students regulate their own learning. In practice, this means students shift from asking “What grade did I get?” to “What can I do better next time?”. This subtle but powerful change builds habits of reflection and continuous improvement.
The Role of Technology in Scaling Feedback
If feedback is so powerful, why isn’t it central to every classroom? The reality is time. Teachers with 30+ students cannot provide personalised, detailed feedback for every piece of work without overwhelming their workload (which many do!).
This is where technology can change the equation. AI-powered tools, like Fruitify, now make it possible to deliver instant, personalised feedback at scale, without replacing teacher expertise. Fruitify handles the repetitive elements: suggesting targeted improvements, tracking progress and general admin, whilst also providing accurate predicted marks with explainable reasoning and editable teacher feedback, blending automation with human judgment. This reduces teachers’ workloads giving them a helping-hand in marking, allowing them to focus on dialogue, mentorship and higher-order learning.
A recent 10-week study across Australia and New Zealand found AI-powered feedback facilitated a 47% average improvement in quality of student responses, whilst 87% of students re-engaged with low-scoring work when given the opportunity to revise via the AI feedback loop.
Final Thoughts
Feedback is clearly the key to unlocking student potential, but comments must be task-specific, future-orientated and unbiased to drive student learning and progress. Whilst there is much negativity surrounding grades, we understand that they are a key performance tracker across schools. Fruitify bridges the gap between grades and feedback, combining the two with rational, personalised and task-specific comments to support grade decisions and guide student progression to ensure improvement.
Like teachers and schools across the globe, we are on a mission to positively impact student learning experiences and transform lives through teaching, and Fruitify is the tool to help achieve this mission.
To learn more about how Fruitify can revolutionise your classroom, contact us here.