More consistent marking, clearer student insight

Atomi now auto-marks more written responses

Atomi’s AI feedback already helps students improve written responses using consistent marking guidelines. Now, those same guidelines also support auto-marking for short and extended responses worth 2–6 marks.

The result is more consistent insight across the class, helping teachers understand where students are up to and what to focus on next.

Self-marking still plays an important role in helping students reflect on their work and engage with guidelines. But when students move quickly through exam-style questions, teachers can end up with inconsistent signals about who genuinely understood the content and who needs support next.

By applying the same guidelines across feedback and marking, teachers get a clearer view of student understanding and more confidence in the data behind it.

As a teacher, you need to be able to trust what the data's telling you. By using the same guidelines for both the AI feedback and the marking, you're getting consistent signals right across the class. When it's time to plan your next steps, you're working from a clear picture of where your kids genuinely are.
-Sarah-Eleni Zaferis, Teacher and Product Pedagogy Specialist at Atomi

What this looks like in the classroom

Atomi now marks short and extended written responses worth 2-6 marks using the same guidelines students already see in their AI feedback. The markbook stays the same. What changes is the consistency behind the data.

This helps teachers:

• Plan with clearer evidence of student understanding
• Identify who needs support faster
• Compare progress more consistently across the class
• Have more informed conversations with students, parents and HoDs
• Use formative assessment more confidently to guide teaching

Built around how junior and senior students actually learn

Different students need different things from an assessment. That’s why Atomi approaches junior and senior marking differently.

For Years 7–10, the focus stays on learning. Students receive three-band feedback alongside AI feedback, without a numerical mark becoming the focus. The emphasis stays on what to improve next.

For Years 11–12, marks carry more weight. Senior students see a suggested numerical mark alongside marking guidelines for short and extended responses, helping them understand both how they performed and why.

In both cases, the feedback and marking are aligned, so teachers and students are working from the same signals. Teachers continue to see numerical marks in the markbook across both year levels, making progress easier to track across a class.

If a student disagrees with a mark, the dispute mechanism stays in place so their voice remains part of the process.

Auto-marking currently supports short and extended response questions worth 2-6 marks, where guidelines can be applied consistently. We’re continuing to explore how this approach can support longer-form responses over time.

What this means in practice

The markbook looks the same. Teachers simply get a more consistent view of student progress and a clearer sense of what to focus on next.

More consistent marking. Clearer student insight.

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