"What did you learn today?" is a friendly question and a poor measure. It usually gets answers like "stuff about fractions," which tell you that a student was in the room and very little else. A good exit ticket asks students to do something with the day's idea instead of describing it, and the answers then show you what to teach tomorrow.
This guide gives you forty questions, grouped by what you want to find out, and then a quick way to read a stack of responses without losing your evening. The short answer to the question most teachers start with is that a strong exit ticket takes two to five minutes, targets one main idea, and needs thinking rather than recall of a phrase.
What makes an exit ticket worth collecting?
An exit ticket is only useful if it changes what you do next. That rules out questions students can answer without having learned anything, such as "Define photosynthesis" when the definition is on the board behind them. It also rules out questions so broad that the answers are vague, and formats so slow to read that the pile sits on your desk until Friday.
The best tickets ask "why" or "what would happen if," because those questions cannot be answered by copying. They focus on the single most important idea from the lesson rather than a side point. And they come in a form you can sort quickly, even if that means one question and a few lines of writing. If you are not going to read them, students will notice, and the quality of their answers will fall.
Which questions check the main idea?
Start here if you want to know whether the central point landed. These questions ask students to put the idea in their own words, which is harder than it sounds and reveals a lot. A student who can only repeat your phrasing has probably memorised it, and one who can explain it to an imaginary absent classmate has probably understood it.
- In two sentences, explain [concept] to someone who was absent.
- What is the most important idea from today, and why?
- Which example from today best shows [concept]?
- Complete the sentence: "[Term] means... because..."
- Draw a quick diagram of [process] and label two parts.
- What would happen if [one condition] changed?
- Write one question you could ask to test whether someone understood today.
- What is the difference between [concept A] and [concept B]?
Question 7 deserves a special mention. Asking students to write a test question forces them to decide what matters, and the questions they write show you what they think the lesson was about, which is sometimes not what you intended.
Which questions show whether students can use the idea?
Understanding an idea and applying it are different skills, and a student can have the first without the second. Application questions give students something new to do with what they learned, so they cannot rely on recalling the example from class. They work well in maths and science, but they suit any subject where the goal is to use knowledge, not just hold it.
- Solve this new problem, and show your steps.
- Here is a worked solution with one mistake. Find and fix it.
- Which method would you use for this problem, and why?
- Write a real-life example of [concept].
- Use [term] in a sentence about something we have not studied.
- Estimate the answer before you calculate. Then check.
- What is wrong with this statement: "[common misconception]"?
- Write your own problem that uses today's method.
Error analysis, in questions 10 and 15, is one of the quickest tickets to prepare. Take a wrong answer from last year's class or a mistake you saw this morning, and ask students to diagnose it. Spotting someone else's error is easier and less threatening than avoiding your own, and the reasoning students write down tells you exactly where their understanding is thin.
How do you find misconceptions before they set?
Misconceptions are the most useful thing an exit ticket can uncover, because a wrong idea that goes unnoticed for a week is much harder to remove than one caught on the day. The trick is to write questions in which the tempting wrong answer is a real possibility. A student who holds the misconception will choose it, and you will see it immediately.
- True or false: "[common misconception]." Explain your choice.
- Which of these two answers is better, and why?
- What is the trickiest part of today's topic?
- What do people often get wrong about [concept]?
- Circle the step where the mistake happens.
- Predict what will happen. Then say why you think so.
- Rank these statements from most to least accurate.
- Which part would you like me to explain again?
Questions 19, 20 and 24 hand some of the diagnosis to students. They will not always be accurate, but they are honest about where students feel unsure, and that feeling is data. Pair them with one of the questions above and you can compare what students think they know with what they can do.
Can exit tickets check confidence and process too?
They can, and for some classes they should. Students who feel lost often say nothing, while students who feel confident sometimes are not. A short question about confidence or strategy helps you tell the difference, and it gives students practice at reflecting on their own learning, which improves study habits over time.
- On a scale of 1 to 4, how confident are you about today's goal? Give one reason.
- What did you try when you got stuck?
- What helped you most today: a hint, an example or talking with a partner?
- What is one thing you are still unsure about?
- What would you tell a friend to do first if they got this problem?
- What is one thing you would do differently next time?
Which questions connect ideas and build reading skills?
The last two groups are for lessons where the point is connection or literacy. Connection questions ask students to link today's idea to earlier learning or to the world outside school, which strengthens memory because the idea now has more than one hook. Reading and writing questions ask students to work with a text, finding evidence, summarising and improving sentences.
- How does today's idea connect to something we learned earlier?
- Where might you see this outside school?
- How could you use this idea to help solve [larger problem]?
- Which earlier topic was most useful for today's work?
- What comes next, do you think?
- Find the sentence in the text that best supports this claim.
- Write a one-sentence summary of what you read.
- What is the author's main point, and what is one piece of evidence?
- Rewrite this sentence to be clearer.
- Write a question you would ask the author.
How do you read a stack of exit tickets in two minutes?
You do not need to mark every response, and trying to do so is the fastest way to stop using them. Sort the tickets into three piles: got it, nearly, and not yet. The count in each pile tells you what to do. If most are in "not yet," reteach the idea tomorrow in a different way. If most are in "got it," move on, and give the "not yet" students a quick catch-up.
Then look at the "not yet" pile for a pattern. Usually there are one or two mistakes that account for most of the errors. Pick the most common one and start tomorrow's lesson with it, presented as an anonymous example, and ask the class to work out what went wrong. Finally, choose two students from the pile to check in with before the next lesson. That small routine, repeated, is worth more than a long marking session.
Can AI help you write exit tickets?
An AI assistant is a quick source of drafts. Give it the objective, the grade level and the kind of question you want, and be specific about the misconception, because generic questions get generic tickets.
Write three exit ticket questions for grade 6 on [objective]. One should check the main idea, one should apply it to a new problem, and one should target this misconception: [misconception]. Include what a strong answer looks like.
Read every question yourself, and answer it first. If you cannot answer it in about a minute, students will not either, and AI-drafted questions sometimes have two defensible answers or a wrong key. Vary the format from day to day too, because students who see the same ticket every time start answering on autopilot.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I use exit tickets? Daily is ideal if the format is quick, but two or three times a week is enough to change your teaching. Choose the lessons where the idea is new or easily confused.
Should exit tickets be graded? Usually not. They work best as feedback for you and for students, and grading them makes students focus on getting the mark instead of showing what they think. A quick check of the three piles is enough.
What if students copy each other? Ask for an explanation or an example, not a single answer, because those are harder to copy. It also helps to have students hand in tickets individually without talking.
What about the last two minutes of a rushed lesson? Put the ticket before the end of the lesson, not after the bell. A one-question ticket written in three minutes is better than a long one squeezed in.