How to Generate Feedback Without Student Work (No Attempt)

Watch the video above, or follow the steps below.

Sometimes a student makes no attempt at a task at all, often for reasons that have nothing to do with the task itself. You can still create a supportive feedback comment that meets the student where they are and helps re-engage them.

Adding student context for a no-attempt student

1. Open the student and choose Add student context.
2. For “Did the student make a genuine attempt?”, select No. This opens a different set of questions.
3. Answer why you think they did not attempt it (for example, something personal going on, seeming disengaged, the work being too difficult, or unsure).
4. Describe their general attitude to learning recently (struggling, up and down, generally positive).
5. Click Generate.

Instead of the usual “what went well / even better if” format, Nurture generates a short, supportive comment aimed at re-engaging the student. It may gently encourage them to attempt something, even a small amount. This is grounded in Dylan Wiliam’s pedagogy on meeting every student where they are.

Approving and grading

Approve the feedback. Add a grade manually (this would be zero for now if they did not submit). You can then publish it.

A note on quieter students: many teachers tell us that quieter students open up more in their private Nurture reflections than they would in class, because it is confidential one-to-one communication. This flow can be a useful way to engage students who do not engage directly with a task.