The research on formative assessment and feedback is reinterpreted to show how these processes can help students take control of their own learning, i.e. become self‐regulated learners. This reformulation is used to identify seven principles of good feedback practice that support self‐regulation. A key argument is that students are already assessing their own work and generating their own feedback, and that higher education should build on this ability. The research underpinning each feedback principle is presented, and some examples of easy‐to‐implement feedback strategies are briefly described. This shift in focus, whereby students are seen as having a proactive rather than a reactive role in generating and using feedback, has profound implications for the way in which teachers organise assessments and support learning.