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Exit tickets: what they are, examples, and questions to use tomorrow

An exit ticket is a quick question, or two or three, that students answer at the end of class before they leave. It takes three to five minutes and shows you, the same day, who understood the lesson and who needs help tomorrow.

Updated October 2026

What is an exit ticket?

An exit ticket (also called an exit slip or exit pass) is a short check at the end of a lesson. Each student answers one to three questions about what was just taught, on a slip of paper, a sticky note or a quick online form, and hands it in on the way out.

It is formative assessment: not a grade, but information for you. The point is not to score the class. It is to decide what tomorrow's lesson needs to do.

Why exit tickets work

  • You hear from every student, not only the ones who raise their hands. The quiet student who is lost shows up on paper.
  • You find gaps while they are small. A misunderstanding caught the same day can be fixed in a few minutes the next morning. One found on the unit test has had weeks to set in.
  • Tomorrow's lesson gets better. You know whether to move on, reteach, or pull a small group, instead of guessing from the faces in the room.
  • Students learn to check themselves. Asking "what did I actually understand?" at the end of every lesson is a habit worth building.

How to use exit tickets, in four steps

  1. Start from today's goal. Write down the one thing students should be able to do by the end of the lesson. The exit ticket checks that, and nothing else.
  2. Ask one to three questions. At least one should make students show what they know: solve, explain, apply. A second can ask how confident they feel.
  3. Save the last three to five minutes. Give the ticket before the bell, not after it. Students answer on their own, and you collect at the door.
  4. Sort the answers the same day. Three piles: got it, almost, not yet. That sort is tomorrow's plan (more on that below).

8 exit ticket formats, with examples

Each one is a free printable template: open it in the exit ticket template builder, add your question, and print four to a page.

1. One question on today's goal

The default. One question that only a student who met today's goal can answer.

  • Your question, for example: In your own words, explain why the moon has phases.

Print the One question on today's goal template

2. 3-2-1

After a reading, a video or a new topic, when you want a quick picture of what stuck.

  • 3 things I learned today
  • 2 things I found interesting
  • 1 question I still have

Print the 3-2-1 template

3. Rate your understanding

Mid-unit, to group students for tomorrow without giving a quiz.

  • How well do you understand today's lesson?: 1 · I'm lost / 2 · Getting there / 3 · I've got it / 4 · I could teach it
  • Why did you pick that number?

Print the Rate your understanding template

4. Muddiest point

After a hard lesson, to find the exact step where students got lost.

  • What was the most confusing part of today's lesson?
  • What would help you understand it?

Print the Muddiest point template

5. Question + confidence

When a right answer could be a lucky guess: it separates the sure from the unsure.

  • Your question, for example: Solve: 3/4 + 1/8 = ?
  • How sure are you?: Guessing / Fairly sure / Certain

Print the Question + confidence template

6. Headline summary

At the end of a unit or a discussion, to check whether students can name the big idea.

  • Write a newspaper headline that sums up today's lesson
  • Explain your headline in one sentence

Print the Headline summary template

7. I used to think… now I think…

When the lesson was meant to change a common wrong idea.

  • I used to think…
  • Now I think…

Print the I used to think… now I think… template

8. Traffic light

With younger students, or as a ten-second check at the door.

  • Circle one: Green · I've got it / Yellow · I'm not sure / Red · I need help
  • One thing I can do now that I couldn't before

Print the Traffic light template

Exit ticket questions by subject

Good exit ticket questions make students use what they learned, not just repeat it. "What is photosynthesis?" can be memorized; "Why would a plant in a dark closet die?" cannot.

Math

  • Solve 2x + 5 = 17. What was your first step, and why?
  • Which is bigger, 3/5 or 5/8? How do you know?
  • Find the mistake: 4 + 3 × 2 = 14. What should the answer be?
  • Write a word problem that 24 ÷ 6 would answer.

English and reading

  • What is the main idea of today's passage? Give one detail that supports it.
  • How did the main character change from the start of the chapter to the end?
  • Find one example of figurative language in today's reading and explain what it means.
  • Combine these two sentences with a conjunction: The bell rang. We went to lunch.

Science

  • Why does ice float on water?
  • Predict what happens to a plant kept in a dark closet for a week, and explain why.
  • What is the difference between weather and climate?
  • In today's experiment, which variable did we change, and which did we measure?

Social studies

  • Name one cause of the American Revolution and explain how it led to war.
  • Would you have sided with the Federalists or the Anti-Federalists? Give one reason.
  • How did the geography of the region shape the way people lived there?
  • What is one question you would ask someone who lived through this period?

Any subject

  • What is the most important thing you learned today, and why?
  • What would you tell a classmate who missed today's lesson?
  • What is one question you still have?
  • Where could you use what you learned today outside school?

Paper, Google Forms or an app?

Paper is the fastest to start: no devices, no logins, and you can sort the slips into piles on your desk. Print four tickets to a page and cut them.

Google Forms works well when students already have devices:

  1. Create a form and add a short-answer or paragraph question for your check.
  2. Add a linear scale from 1 to 4 for "How well do you understand today's lesson?"
  3. Collect names, with the email setting or a name question.
  4. Share the link or a QR code in the last five minutes of class.
  5. Read the Responses tab, or open the answers in Google Sheets to sort them.

The catch with both: someone still has to read every written answer and sort the class. With 30 students per class and several classes a day, that is where exit tickets usually get dropped.

What to do with the answers

Sort the tickets into three piles, then let the piles decide tomorrow:

  • Most of the class is "not yet": the lesson did not land. Reteach it tomorrow, differently: a new example, a new model, not the same explanation louder.
  • A handful is "not yet": move on with the class and pull that group for ten minutes while the others practice.
  • Almost everyone got it: move on, and open tomorrow with the one idea the "almost" pile tripped on.

Look for the same wrong answer showing up again and again. That is a misconception, and it is worth naming in front of the class: "Yesterday a lot of you thought X. Here is why it is Y."

Let Mentora read the answers for you

Mentora is the AI grader for teachers that tells you what to reteach. Students answer on any device, written answers are graded against your criteria, and the debrief sorts the class for you: what the class understood, which wrong answers came up, who needs help, and what to do in the next class.

Early access, in small batches. One email when your spot is ready; nothing else.

See how Mentora works

Common exit ticket mistakes

  • Asking "Do you understand?" Students say yes. Ask them to show it instead.
  • Asking too much. More than three questions turns an exit ticket into a quiz, and the bell rings before anyone finishes.
  • Grading them. Students start writing what they think you want to read, and the honest "I'm lost" disappears.
  • Collecting them and not using them. If tomorrow's lesson does not change, students notice, and the answers get shorter.

Frequently asked questions

What is an exit ticket?

An exit ticket is a short question, or two or three, that students answer at the end of class before they leave. It takes three to five minutes and shows the teacher, the same day, who understood the lesson and who needs help tomorrow.

Are exit tickets graded?

Usually not. An exit ticket is formative assessment: its job is to tell you what to teach next. Grading it makes students play it safe instead of showing what they actually think. Many teachers give completion credit at most.

How long should an exit ticket take?

Three to five minutes, with one to three questions. If it takes longer, it is a quiz.

What is a 3-2-1 exit ticket?

Students write three things they learned, two things they found interesting, and one question they still have. It gives a quick picture of what stuck and what is still unclear.

What is the difference between an exit ticket and a quiz?

A quiz measures what students learned, often for a grade. An exit ticket checks one lesson's goal so you can adjust tomorrow's lesson: it is shorter, ungraded, and read the same day.

What is the difference between an exit ticket and a bell ringer?

A bell ringer, or warm-up, opens class and often reviews yesterday's material. An exit ticket closes class and checks today's.

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