Questions to Ask My Teacher
87 questions a student can ask their own teacher, in five groups: how the class runs and what is on the test, your marks and how to raise them, the teacher as a person, a few for fun, and the last weeks of the year.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The class
What does it take to do well in your class?
Why ask it
The broadest question here, and the right one for the first week, before there is a grade to worry about. A useful answer names habits: do the reading before the lesson, show every step, hand drafts in early. If you get 'work hard and pay attention', ask what the students who did best last year did differently.
When can I come to you for extra help?
Why ask it
Find out the times before you need them: before school, at lunch, one set afternoon, or by appointment only. Ask whether you can just turn up or have to book, and what to bring. A student who knows the slot goes in week three. One who does not tends to wait until the week of the exam, when everyone else has the same idea.
Can we go back over the part of today's lesson where I got lost?
Why ask it
Teachers can usually name the exact point where a class loses the thread, and most would rather fix it now than mark thirty wrong answers later. Bring the specific slide, step or question. 'I do not get any of it' gets you the same explanation again at the same speed.
Which topics are on the test, and which are not?
Why ask it
Ask plainly and you will usually be told the boundaries of a test, and knowing what is excluded is worth as much as knowing what is in. If the answer is 'everything', follow up with which parts carry the most marks.
How much of my grade comes from homework compared with tests?
Why ask it
Weighting decides where your effort belongs, and it is often nothing like what students assume. If daily work carries a large share, a run of missed pieces will cost you more than one bad exam ever could.
Is there a rubric or mark scheme for this, and can I see it before I start?
Why ask it
If one exists, it is the list of what earns the marks, and reading it first takes five minutes. If there is none, ask what a top answer would include and write that down. Either way you stop guessing what the teacher wants.
What happens to the grade if I hand something in a day late?
Why ask it
Late policies run from a shrug to a zero, and what is written down is not always what is enforced. Ask about one day and about one week, since the penalties are rarely the same. If you already know you will be late, say so before the deadline and not after it.
If I am away for a day, how do I find out what I missed?
Why ask it
The system could be slides posted online, a folder by the door, a classmate's notes, or nothing at all. Ask before you are ever absent, because the first lesson back is a bad time to learn there was a quiz.
Is it better to ask my questions in class or bring them to you afterwards?
Why ask it
Some teachers want questions live because the whole room benefits, others are protecting the pace of the lesson. Settling this stops you either dominating the class or sitting silently on something you genuinely needed.
What should I do when I get stuck on homework at ten at night and there is nobody to ask?
Why ask it
Everyone hits that wall. What matters is knowing in advance what this teacher wants: an attempt with a note where you stopped, an email, a skipped question, or a worked example to copy the method from. Without an answer, most students hand in nothing.
What should my notes from your lessons actually look like?
Why ask it
It depends on what happens to the slides. If every one is posted, you are better off listening. If the tests draw on things that were only ever said out loud, those need writing down. Show them a page of your notes and ask what is missing.
On your tests, what is the difference between 'describe', 'explain' and 'evaluate'?
Why ask it
Grading language is compressed and students routinely misread it: a perfect description earns very little when the question said evaluate. Ask for one topic answered each way, even in a sentence apiece, so you can hear the difference.
Where do people usually run out of time on your tests?
Why ask it
Teachers see the same blank last page every year and know which section eats the clock. The answer tells you where to move faster and whether to start with the long question. If timing is not the problem in this class, that is useful too: the marks are going somewhere else.
What are your rules on using AI, a calculator or a translator for work in this class?
Why ask it
Rules on this differ between schools, between teachers in the same school, and sometimes between two assignments. Asking first costs nothing, and 'I did not know' is a weak defense once a piece has been flagged. Ask for one example of a use that is fine and one that is not.
In group projects, does everyone get the same grade?
Why ask it
Ask before the groups are picked, not after someone has gone quiet. One grade for all, a grade for each part, and a grade adjusted by how the group rates each other all call for a different way of splitting the work. Ask too what they want you to do if a member stops turning up: tell them early, or sort it out yourselves.
Would I do better sitting somewhere else in the room?
Why ask it
The teacher can see things from the front that you cannot: who you talk to, when you drift, whether you are squinting at the board. If you already suspect the answer, asking to move is much easier than being moved.
Things are difficult outside school at the moment. Is there any room on deadlines, and who else should know?
Why ask it
You do not have to explain everything, and one sentence before the deadline usually gets more room than an excuse after it. A teacher generally cannot promise to keep something secret if it sounds as though you are not safe, and how that works differs between schools, so ask. That rule is there to get you help, not to get you into trouble.
Your work
What can I do to bring my grade up?
Why ask it
Probably the question teachers hear most, and how useful the answer is depends on when you ask. With weeks left you get something to do: fix an error you keep making, hand in what is missing, come in for help. In the last few days there is rarely anything left to change. Ask for the one or two things that would move the grade most, not a general list.
Where exactly did I lose marks on this assignment?
Why ask it
Marks disappear for reasons invisible in the grade: a missing unit, an unanswered part b, a claim with no evidence behind it. Bring the returned piece and go through it question by question. The marking is already done, so all you are asking for is the reasoning behind it.
Is my problem the content itself or the way I write it up?
Why ask it
This is the diagnostic question. If your ideas are right and the write-up loses the marks, the fix is small and mechanical. If the content is missing, no amount of formatting will save it, and it is much better to know that early.
You keep writing the same comment on my work. What am I not getting about it?
Why ask it
A repeated comment means you read it, agreed with it and still do not know what to do differently. Say exactly that. Ask the teacher to rewrite one of your sentences or steps the way they meant, because an example does what the comment could not.
I think the marks on this question may have been added up wrong. Could we check it together?
Why ask it
Marking errors happen, and teachers fix them without fuss when they are shown one specific question. Do the sum yourself first and bring the paper. Asking for the whole piece to be marked again is a different request, so ask whether that can lower a grade as well as raise it.
If you were me, would you spend this week catching up on old work or keeping up with the new?
Why ask it
When you are behind on several things the instinct is to start with the oldest, which is often the piece that now counts least. The teacher knows what can still earn credit and what next week's lessons depend on. Bring the list of everything outstanding and leave with it in order.
Do you give extra credit?
Why ask it
Some teachers build it into the course, some never offer it, and some schools do not allow it, so the only way to know is to ask. Raise it at the start of the term, as a question about how the class works. Asked in the final week it sounds like a request to be rescued. If the answer is no, do not push: ask which piece still to come carries the most weight.
Can I redo this, or make the marks up somewhere else?
Why ask it
Retake and revision policies vary and are rarely announced. Ask early in the term, before there is a grade you want to fix: a question about the policy gets a calmer answer than a plea about one result. If the answer is no, ask when the next chance to pull the grade up will be.
How should I be studying for your tests? Rereading my notes does not seem to work.
Why ask it
Saying what you have already tried blocks the generic advice about reviewing notes. Methods differ sharply by subject: past papers in math, self-testing for vocabulary, timed essay plans in history, and the teacher knows which applies here.
I know this at home and then go blank in the test. What would you try?
Why ask it
Say what actually happens: the first question throws you, the clock does, or the whole paper. Depending on which, a teacher may suggest timed practice, starting with a question you can do, or writing the formulas down the moment you sit. If it happens in every subject or makes you feel ill, ask who at school you can talk to, since the support on offer differs from one school to the next.
Honestly, am I behind where you expect people to be by now?
Why ask it
Asking for a straight position is uncomfortable and it is the fastest way to find out whether you are quietly drifting. Frame it against the course expectations rather than against other students, which a teacher cannot discuss with you.
Is the grade I want still reachable this term, and what would it take?
Why ask it
This is arithmetic, and the teacher has the numbers: what is left to be assessed and how much each piece counts. Ask them to work it out with you. If the answer is no, you have learned it in time to aim for the best grade that is still possible.
What am I already doing well that I should not change?
Why ask it
Feedback is mostly a list of faults, and students sometimes fix a weakness by abandoning a strength. Knowing what is working tells you what to protect. If the teacher has to think for a while, ask again after the next piece of work.
Do I speak up too little in class, or too much?
Why ask it
Few people judge this correctly about themselves. Quiet students tend to assume nobody has noticed, and frequent talkers rarely see who has stopped trying to get a word in. Ask what one change would look like: one question a lesson, or waiting for two other hands first.
Is there anything I do in class that gets in my own way?
Why ask it
This invites the comment a teacher would normally keep back: the phone under the desk, packing up five minutes early, starting every task by asking a neighbor. Only ask if you can hear the answer without arguing. Try what they suggest for a week before deciding they were wrong.
What will you tell my parents at the next conference, so I can hear it from you first?
Why ask it
Whatever gets said about you there was true for weeks beforehand, so ask while there is still time to change it. It also means nothing your parents bring home will be news to you. If the answer stings, ask what the teacher would need to see by then to say something different.
Am I in the right level of this class, or should I think about moving up or down?
Why ask it
Worth asking when the work has felt far too easy or out of reach for several weeks, not after one bad test. How a move works, and when in the year it can happen, differs between schools, so ask what the process is and who decides. Ask what they would need to see from you first, so you leave with something to do either way.
About them
Why did you become a teacher?
Why ask it
The first question most students think of, and a teacher who has been asked it for years has an answer worn smooth from telling. To get past the rehearsed version, ask what they would have said in their first year and whether it is still true. Some name a person, some a subject, and some say it was an accident, which is often the best story of the three.
How long have you been teaching?
Why ask it
A plain fact that opens several follow-ups: how long at this school, which grades, what the first classroom was like. It is also the polite way to learn how experienced someone is without asking their age, which is not yours to ask. If the answer is 'this is my first year', be kind about it.
What do you like most about being a teacher?
Why ask it
Listen for whether the answer is about the subject, the students, or the moment something finally makes sense to someone. That is what gets this teacher's best effort, and a class that knows it can give them more of it. A good one to ask on a day that has clearly been long.
What is the hardest part of being a teacher?
Why ask it
Expect grading, time, or a student they could not reach, and expect a careful answer, since a teacher will not complain about the school to a class. Take what you are given and do not dig. If the hard part turns out to be something your class does, you have just been told how to make their week easier.
What kind of student were you when you were my age?
Why ask it
Some teachers were top of the class and some scraped through, and which one you have explains a lot about how they treat a student who is struggling. Ask what their report cards used to say. If they talked too much or never did the homework, you will hear about it, usually with some pride.
What was your favorite subject when you were at school?
Why ask it
It is not always the one they teach now. A math teacher who loved art, or an English teacher who lived in the science labs, has a story about changing direction, so ask when that happened. If it was this subject all along, ask which teacher or which lesson started it.
Who was the best teacher you ever had?
Why ask it
Plenty of teachers are copying someone on purpose, and this is how you find out who. Ask what that teacher actually did: how they ran a lesson, what they said on a bad day, what they refused to let slide. You may recognize some of it in your own classroom.
If you were not a teacher, what job would you have?
Why ask it
You get either the career they left behind or the one they still daydream about, and both are worth hearing. Follow up with what they wanted to be at your age, since the two answers rarely match. Good to hear if you have no idea yet what you want to do, because it shows how often a plan changes.
Do you have any pets, and what are their names?
Why ask it
About the safest personal question there is, which makes it a good one for the first week, when nobody knows anybody yet. Expect photos. If they have none, ask what they would get.
What do you do for fun outside school?
Why ask it
The standard get-to-know-you question, and it is how a class finds out that the chemistry teacher runs marathons or plays in a band. Hobbies are open ground. Who they spend the weekend with is theirs to mention, so stay on the activity. If it overlaps with something you do, say so: it gives you something to talk about that is not homework.
Where did you go to school, and was it anything like this one?
Why ask it
An easy first personal question because it stays on school. You usually get a comparison: bigger, stricter, a uniform, a long bus ride, no phones. Ask what they would bring from that school to this one.
What music, shows or games were you into when you were my age?
Why ask it
You will get a band you have never heard of and a firm opinion about it. This is one of the few questions where the teacher starts asking you things back, so have your own answer ready. Gentle teasing about their taste is fine if they started it.
What is your favorite book or movie?
Why ask it
Asked of an English teacher this starts a ten-minute answer, and asked of a PE teacher it may surprise you. Ask why that one, and how old they were when they found it. If you go and read or watch it, come back and say what you thought. That second conversation is the one they will remember.
What was the first job you ever had?
Why ask it
Plenty of teachers stacked shelves, waited tables or lifeguarded before any of this, and those stories get told happily. It is a safer way into their life before teaching than asking about family or age. Worth hearing if you are about to look for a first job yourself.
What was college like for you, and would you do it the same way again?
Why ask it
Ask this once you are thinking about your own next step. Teachers were students for a long time and remember what they would change: the major, the distance from home, the jobs they worked alongside. Treat it as one person's account, not a rule.
What do you remember about your very first day as a teacher?
Why ask it
It tends to be remembered in detail: the lesson that ran out twenty minutes early, the student who tested them, what they wore. It reminds a class that the person at the front was once new at this. Save it for a quiet moment at the end of a lesson, not the middle of one.
Did you play a sport or an instrument when you were at school?
Why ask it
Almost everyone tried one or the other for a while, and the story of quitting the clarinet is as good as the story of the final. If they still play, ask where. It often explains which club they run or which team they coach.
Did you ever have a teacher you did not get along with?
Why ask it
Most did, and the way they tell it shows what they try not to repeat with their own classes. Leave names out of your follow-up and never steer it toward teachers at your school. They cannot answer that and should not be asked.
Which topic or lesson do you most enjoy teaching?
Why ask it
Most teachers have a lesson they look forward to all year, and it shows when it arrives: more stories, better props, less looking at the clock. Knowing which one it is tells you when to pay closest attention. Ask too which topic they would cut if they could, though some will only answer that with a smile.
Which topic in this subject did you find hard when you were learning it?
Why ask it
Students assume the teacher always found this easy. Hearing that they once failed a quiz on the thing they now teach makes your own trouble look ordinary. Ask what finally made it click, because that explanation is often better than the textbook's.
What is on your desk or your wall that has a story behind it?
Why ask it
Point at a specific object if you can see one: the mug, the faded postcard, the trophy nobody has explained. Things kept in a classroom for years are often gifts from students or souvenirs of a good day, so the story is usually a warm one.
Do you speak any other languages?
Why ask it
A quick question that sometimes turns up a whole history: a childhood abroad, a grandparent, a year spent working overseas. If the answer is yes, ask how they learned it. If you speak one they do not, this is your chance to teach them a word.
Where is the best place you have ever traveled to?
Why ask it
Let them decide what 'best' means: the furthest, the strangest, or the campsite they went back to every year as a child. Listen for whether the trip connects to what they teach: the battlefield, the reef, the museum. That can explain why one lesson a year is better than the others.
Have you taught at other schools, and how is this one different?
Why ask it
You only know this one, so the comparison shows you what is unusual about your own school. Expect a diplomatic answer, since a teacher will not criticize their employer to a student, though what they choose to praise still tells you something. If this is their first school, ask what surprised them about it.
Fun
What is the funniest thing a student has ever said in your class?
Why ask it
Teachers collect these for years, and the best ones arrive already polished. The story should come without a name attached, and if it is about someone at your school, do not go looking for who. Be warned that by June the answer might feature somebody in the room.
What is the best excuse you have ever been given for missing homework?
Why ask it
The winners are usually either wildly elaborate or turned out to be true. Enjoy the story and resist treating it as a list of ideas: the teacher telling it has, by definition, heard that one before. Ask whether they believed it at the time.
What is your biggest pet peeve in the classroom?
Why ask it
It sounds like a joke question and it is the most useful one in this group. Whether the answer is clicking pens, bags packed before the bell, or 'is this on the test?', you have been told for free how to stay on this teacher's good side. Do not then do it on purpose, even once, even to be funny.
Are you a morning person, or does it take a coffee before you can face first period?
Why ask it
Students forget the teacher also had to get up for this. An honest 'no' explains a lot about first period and gets a laugh. Ask what time their alarm goes off and prepare to feel better about your own.
Would you rather have a class that never stops talking or one that never says a word?
Why ask it
Every teacher has had both and has a firm view. Their choice hints at which kind of class they think yours is, so be ready for that. Follow up by asking which one is harder to fix.
Would you rather mark a hundred essays or do lunch duty every day for a term?
Why ask it
A choice between quiet tedium and noisy chaos. Whichever they pick, there is a story about the time it went wrong, and that story is what you are really asking for.
What slang do we use that you have had to look up?
Why ask it
Teachers hear new words before most adults do and are still usually a term behind. Let them try one in a sentence. Keep it kind: the aim is to laugh with them, and explaining the word properly is part of the fun.
If you could take this class on a trip anywhere, with no budget and no forms, where would we go?
Why ask it
Taking away the budget and the permission slips is the point, since those are what stop real trips. The destination shows what they wish they could show you instead of describing it. Now and then a smaller version turns out to be possible.
What game, sport or quiz round would you beat this entire class at?
Why ask it
An invitation to boast, which teachers rarely get. It can turn into a real challenge on the last day of term, so only ask if someone in the room is prepared to lose at chess or table tennis in front of everyone.
Do you have a hidden talent we do not know about?
Why ask it
Juggling, a black belt, a fair impression of a cartoon character, years in a choir: classrooms hide a lot. Ask early enough in the year that it can be called on later, at a talent show or on the last day. If they say they have none, ask what they wish they could do.
What is the best costume you have worn for a school dress-up day?
Why ask it
There are nearly always photos, and other staff will remember it even if your teacher claims not to. A good one for the week before a spirit day or a book day, when you can also ask what they are planning this time.
Which other teacher here would you want on your quiz team?
Why ask it
A kind way to ask about the rest of the staff, because it can only be answered with a compliment. You find out who is friends with whom and who knows an alarming amount about one subject. Do not flip it and ask who they would leave off.
Did you ever get detention, and what was it for?
Why ask it
Students always want to know, and the answer is usually tamer than hoped. If they say never, ask what the closest call was. If they change the subject, let them: some teachers would rather not hand a class that story.
If this class got a pet, what should it be and who would end up looking after it?
Why ask it
The second half is the real question, and the teacher already knows the answer is them. It becomes a debate quickly, so save it for a day when a five-minute argument about lizards is welcome.
End of year
What was your favorite moment with our class this year?
Why ask it
The classic last-week question, and there is nearly always an answer ready. It is often something small that nobody else noticed: a joke, a discussion that ran over, the day an idea finally made sense to the whole room. It makes a good yearbook quote if you ask whether you can print it.
What do you hope we remember from your class?
Why ask it
The answer is rarely a fact from the syllabus. It is more often a habit, such as checking a source or showing your work, or one idea they think matters outside school. Hearing it at the end tells you what the year was really meant to teach, and you can judge for yourself whether it landed.
What is one piece of advice you would give us before we leave your class?
Why ask it
Teachers are asked for advice about essays and equations all year and seldom about anything larger. In the last week, with the pressure off, this tends to get a considered answer and not a slogan. Write it down as it was said. It works as a yearbook line if they agree to it being printed.
How was our class different from the others you taught this year?
Why ask it
Every class ends up with a character of its own, and by the last week a teacher will usually tell you yours. Expect the honest version to include one compliment and one thing they will not miss.
What am I better at now than I was at the start of the year?
Why ask it
You cannot see your own progress from inside it, and the teacher has your early work to compare with. Ask for something specific you can name later, in an application or to next year's teacher. It makes a better last conversation than one about the final grade.
What should I get solid on over the summer before next year's class?
Why ask it
Next year's class takes two or three skills for granted, never the whole course, and your teacher knows which. Ask what you should be able to do by the first day back, not what to reread. A short list you will finish beats a workbook you will not open.
Do you want a hand packing up the room on the last day?
Why ask it
Clearing a classroom for the summer can mean taking down every display and boxing every shelf, often alone after the students have gone. Twenty minutes of carrying is a thank-you that needs no card. Check it is allowed first, since some schools do not let students stay on after the final bell.
Would you be willing to write me a recommendation at some point, and what should I do between now and then?
Why ask it
Letters get written from concrete memories, so asking early tells you what this teacher would currently be able to say about you. It also leaves you months to give them something worth describing rather than a week.
Is there anything I still owe you before grades close?
Why ask it
There is usually a date after which missing work can no longer count, and it tends to come earlier than the last day. Ask a couple of weeks out, with a list of what you think is missing. Compare it with their gradebook, because the two do not always match.
What should we tell the students who have you next year?
Why ask it
Asked in front of the class, this gets a list of what the teacher wishes your year had done from the first week. Offer to write the advice down for the incoming class. It is a small job that most teachers are glad to be handed.
What will you do differently with next year's class?
Why ask it
By the end of the year your class is the only group who can say how it went from the other side. Hear their answer, then offer one thing that worked for you and one that did not. Be specific and fair: 'the group project needed another week' is useful, 'it was boring' is not.
What are you doing over the summer?
Why ask it
Easy to ask and easy to answer, and it is what teachers ask each other all through the last week. Some travel, some work a second job, some plan next year's lessons. Whatever the answer, do not say it must be nice to have the summer off.
Do you like it when old students come back to visit?
Why ask it
If they do, they will tell you when: after school and not during someone else's lesson, and through the front office if your school has visitors sign in. Ask whether they will be here next year as well, and how to reach them if not.
What is the best thank-you a student has ever given you?
Why ask it
Ask this a week or two before the last day and you will know what to do yourself. If the answer is a note that said something specific, kept in a drawer for years, you have your instructions and they cost nothing.
Would you sign my yearbook, and write more than 'have a great summer'?
Why ask it
Said with a smile, the second half gets you a line that is actually about you. Give them time: hand the book over at the start of a lesson or leave it with them, since a teacher with thirty books and five minutes writes the same thing in all of them.
How and when to ask a teacher anything
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Asking about the class and your work
Bring the work with you
A returned test, the assignment sheet, the page in the notes where you stalled: a teacher looking at the actual thing gives specific advice, and a teacher answering from memory gives general advice. Write the answer down while they give it, so you are not back with the same question next week.
One question, and what you already tried
Come with one question, not seven, and show the attempt you made. If the answer runs long, ask if you can come back tomorrow with what you have done. The second visit is often more use than the first, because now there is something to correct.
Pick the moment
The two minutes before a lesson starts are setup time and you will get a rushed answer. The end of a lesson works for something small and specific. Anything larger needs a booked slot. Ask about returned work within a few days, while the teacher still remembers your paper.
Go early in the term for anything about grades
Retakes, late work, weighting and next year's classes are all easier to raise before you need a favor. The same request in the last two weeks reads as damage control and is harder to say yes to.
If you have to email
Put the class and the topic in the subject line. Keep it to three sentences: what you are working on, where you got stuck, what you have tried. Ask one question, since emails with four get one answered. Do not expect a same-night reply, never resend it the next morning, and take anything that needs a real explanation to them in person.
Which group for which part of the year
The first two weeks
This is the time for The class: what it takes to do well, when extra help is on, how the grade is built, what happens when you are away or late, what the rules are on AI tools, whether to ask in class or afterwards. One easy question from About them, why they teach, pets or where they went to school, is enough to stop being a name on a seating plan.
When work comes back
Your work only makes sense with a marked piece in your hand. Start with where the marks went, then ask whether the problem is the content or the write-up. Leave the bigger ones, whether you are behind and whether the grade you want is reachable, for a booked conversation and not the doorway.
The week before a test
Ask what is in and what is out, what the command words mean, and where people run out of time. Ask at least a few days ahead. The lesson before the test is too late to act on any of the answers.
The last few weeks
End of year splits in two. The practical ones, a recommendation, work you still owe, what to get solid on over the summer, need asking before the final week while something can still be done. The rest belong to the last few days, when the pressure is off and teachers have time to answer properly.
Asking about them, and the fun ones
Wait for slack in the lesson
The last five minutes, a walk to the bus on a trip, the day after exams, a class that finished early. A personal or silly question in the middle of an explanation reads as an attempt to stall, and teachers have seen that move many times.
Where the line sits
School, work, travel, pets, hobbies and their own school days are open ground. Age, pay, relationships, religion, politics, and opinions about other teachers or students are not yours to ask. Family is theirs to bring up. If you get a short answer or a change of subject, take it as the answer.
One question, not a quiz
Ask one, listen, and say something back about yourself. A student firing off five in a row is conducting an interview, and the rest of the class notices. One question now and a follow-up a month later goes further than all five at once.
Interviewing a teacher for the yearbook or school paper
Ask ahead for ten minutes at a time that suits them, and say what it is for. Choose five or six questions from About them, Fun and End of year, and start with an easy one. Write the answers down as they speak, read back any line you plan to print, and ask before using a photo.
What annoys teachers
Asking for the answer rather than the method
Almost every teacher will help with a problem you have attempted and almost none will do one you have not started. Showing a wrong attempt gets you more time than showing a blank page.
Arguing rather than asking
Opening with 'this grade is unfair' turns the conversation into a defense of the mark. Ask where the marks went and what the piece needed instead. If you still think there is an error, point at one specific question and ask them to look again.
Only ever asking what is on the test
It is a reasonable question once. As a student's only question all term, it tells the teacher how much of the subject they care about.
Vanishing after the advice
It is easier to keep giving time to a student who comes back having done the thing. One follow-up, even a sentence saying you tried the method and whether it helped, makes the next request an easy yes.