Case study
Penmate assesses an English paper in seconds and gives the student specific feedback.
The teacher also gets more context on how the paper was produced. Not a single verdict, but highlighted sentences, data on the writing process and a short summary. The assessment follows Cambridge English criteria and the final call stays with the teacher. The Headers team designed Penmate, develops it and runs it.
- Product
- Penmate
- Field
- Education, English teaching
- Status
- Live in schools in several countries
- Headers role
- Product design, development and operations
Why marking a whole class takes hours
An English teacher gets dozens of essays a week. Each one has to be read, annotated for errors, scored and given feedback. Marking a whole class carefully easily takes several evenings.
Cambridge English looks at four areas: Content, Communicative Achievement, Organisation and Language. Keeping the assessment consistent across all students is hard even for an experienced teacher.
A finished paper alone is often no longer enough to tell how it was produced. Reliably determining the origin of a text by automated detection alone keeps getting harder. The teacher therefore needs more context and knowledge of the student, not another black-and-white score.
What Penmate does once a paper is submitted
The student gets a link from the teacher and writes the paper directly in Penmate. After submission the system assesses Content, Communicative Achievement, Organisation and Language. Within seconds the student receives scores, strengths and specific points to improve.
Teachers can use tasks based on Cambridge English exams or create their own. For each paper they see the full assessment, the student's progress and, with WIRE enabled, context on how the text was produced. The final judgement always stays with the teacher.
Assessment against clear criteria
Penmate scores four areas on a scale from 0 to 5. Teachers can use tasks based on Cambridge English exams or create their own.
More context on how the paper was written
WIRE combines several signals. It highlights sentences that deserve attention, shows the writing process and sums up the main findings. Only the teacher sees the result, and it is neither proof nor a final verdict.
Feedback straight after submission
Students do not need an account. They submit through their own link and within seconds receive scores, strengths and points to work on.
Less marking, more time to teach
The class view shows common weak points and each student's progress. The teacher can focus the next lesson where the class really needs it.
Figures from daily operation
- 1.97 s
- to assess one paper
- thousands of papers a day
- system capacity
- 4000+ tests
- guard reliability
Teachers and schools in several countries use Penmate. The figures describe the system's operation. They say nothing about student outcomes, the accuracy of the suggested assessment or the assessment of a text's origin.
Facing a similar problem?
We designed and built Penmate and keep running it. Tell us what you need to solve. We will tell you what makes sense to build and what developing and running it would involve.
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