This article investigates whether the characteristics of feedback identified by the literature can be found within written assessment records for work and competence-based qualifications. It uses a brief literature review and analysis of the formative feedback within 257 learner portfolios. The characteristics identified by the literature are present with considerable variation between the categories. The decreasing frequency of specific written feedback found in portfolios at higher levels is consistent with the notion of increasing learner autonomy by level. Written feedback was generally task orientated, and whereas a clearly positive tone and the use of praise were fairly common, reference to the progress made or the proximity to a goal was not. However, the 257 portfolios were spread across many categories, limiting the analysis and generalisation of the findings. This article considers the commonly used formulae for calculating sample sizes and the challenges of data collection for categorical data. It considers clustering samples from similar qualifications and accepting higher margins of error, although the preferred option is the use of e-portfolios which negates the physical collection and input of data for coding. (Contains 3 tables and 1 note.)