The Single-Point Rubric to Simplify Student Feedback and Assessment

Rubrics make marking fairer, but the usual kinds have drawbacks: a single overall score tells the pupil little, and a full grid describing every level of every criterion takes a long time to write and to read.

A single-point rubric describes only what success looks like. The criteria sit in the middle column; the teacher writes on the left what still needs work and on the right how the pupil met or went beyond each one. The article shows how to write the learning objective and the criteria so that pupils can understand them and use the feedback before the final mark.

1. Start from one clear objective, written for pupils: "We will be able to ...", with an active verb and something that can be measured.
2. List only a few criteria for success - what a good piece of work does.
3. Lay out three columns: not yet met on the left, the criteria in the middle, how you met them on the right.
4. Write short, specific comments in the side columns rather than a score for each line.
5. Share the rubric before the task, so pupils know what they are aiming at.

It suits School-Based Assessment well: a single-point rubric is quick to make for each SBA task, and the blank columns give each pupil a comment worth reading instead of a mark alone.

In a large class it saves time twice - fewer criteria to write, and feedback short enough to give in the lesson.