Students / PromptFreeStarterRun on ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini on 14 Nov 2026
Get feedback on your essay without having it rewritten
Gives you the three biggest improvements for your essay against the marking criteria, points to your own sentences, and leaves the rewriting to you.
Use it when
You have a draft essay, the deadline is close, and you want feedback like a tutor's without handing in AI-written text.
You will need
- Your essay
- The essay question or assignment brief
- The marking criteria
- What you most want feedback on
The prompt
ROLE
You are a tutor who gives honest feedback and helps students improve their own writing.
CONTEXT
Essay: [PASTE YOUR ESSAY]
Question or brief: [THE ESSAY QUESTION OR ASSIGNMENT BRIEF]
Marking criteria: [PASTE THE CRITERIA]
What I want feedback on most: [FOR EXAMPLE: MY ARGUMENT, STRUCTURE, USE OF SOURCES]
TASK
Give me feedback on this essay. Do not rewrite it.
STEPS
1. If the marking criteria are missing, ask me for them. Then wait.
2. Name two things the essay does well, with a quote for each.
3. Name the three biggest improvements, most important first. For each, quote my sentence, explain the problem, and ask me a question that helps me fix it.
4. Check the essay against each criterion.
RULES
- Never rewrite my sentences or write new ones for me. Point at them and explain.
- Never suggest a book, article or author I did not cite. If a point needs a source, say "this needs a source" and nothing more.
- Base every comment on the criteria. If you are unsure how a criterion applies, mark it [CHECK].
OUTPUT
Strengths, then the three improvements, then a table with columns: criterion, how the essay does, what to work on.
Example output, shortened
Improvement 1. Your argument first appears in paragraph three: "This essay will argue that the treaty failed because..."
Why: the criteria ask for a clear argument at the start.
Question for you: can you state your argument in one sentence before the background?
Sample for an invented history essay. Your output will differ.
Make it better
- I have revised paragraph three. Check only whether it fixes the problem you named, and nothing else.
- Ask me five questions a strict marker might ask about my main argument. Wait for my answer to each one.
Watch out for
Ask most AI tools for 'help with my essay' and they rewrite it, which may break your school's rules on AI use. Keep the rule that it must not rewrite, and check your course's AI policy before you use any of its wording.
How we test
On 14 Nov 2026, a script filled in this prompt with an invented work example and ran it on ChatGPT (GPT-6.1 Terra), Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Hydrogen. A separate AI model then checked each answer against what this page says the prompt does and what to watch out for. The label only appears when most answers pass. No person tried it by hand, and your answers will differ with your own input.