The headmaster of a secondary school has banned teachers from marking because it risks damaging children’s confidence.

Gary Schlick, the head of Bedminster Down School in Bristol, said that issuing pupils with grades, scores and comments on their work may come across as negative, and does little to encourage children to improve.

Under the new regime, teachers are encouraged to replace traditional marking with a series of techniques which Mr Schlick believes will boost attainment.

One is “live marking”, whereby a teacher sits a child as they do their work and explains how to improve as they go along. This way, the teacher can “celebrate” the positive aspects of the pupil’s work with them in person.

Another method is “impact marking”, where students are quizzed in the classroom about whether they have understood new concepts.

“Much of the marking that teachers do is unnecessary, burdensome and does not help students progress,” Mr Schlick said.

“But sitting down with someone and talking through their work in detail – this way, children feel as though someone giving them more individual time, it boosts their confidence.

“Picking out things they have done really well and sharing it with the class – this is a more positive approach.”