This paper provides a description of practice outlining changes made to English assessment structures for the purpose of facilitating improved teaching and learning. These changes, which included marking, feedback, reporting, and the evaluation of the efficacy of teaching, were implemented across Years 7 to 10 English classes in an independent boys' school in the ACT. The current approach, which evolved incrementally over time, developed primarily through two stages. The first was a reimagining of rubric design, with criteria reflecting continua of transferable skills, based on the developmental nature of the National Curriculum. This initial change provided rich data but in itself did not lead to the desired impact on teaching and learning. The second stage involved a systematic approach to the formative assessment cycle. Within this cycle the collection of data generated from assessment marking has begun to fulfil its original intention of supporting teaching and learning through progress tracking, targeted feedback, differentiated grouping and improved evaluation of the impact of instruction on student learning.