This paper rests on two solid findings from the feedback literature: (1) formative feedback in the form of comments is conducive to learning, and (2) grades indicating summative performance feedback strongly impact students’ emotions. Interestingly, although comments and grades are often combined on tests in educational settings, it remains unexplored if the negative emotions induced by a bad grade may hinder subsequent effective commented feedback processing. To address this gap, we collected data from N=37 6^th grade students who completed an English essay writing test. The essays were scored with a standardized rubric and participants with matched performance were randomly assigned to the comments-only or comments-and-grade condition. Apart from the presentation of a numerical grade, both conditions were identical and received the same number and type of commented feedback. We assessed participants’ emotional valence using two self-report items and employed eye-tracking technology to quantify depth of feedback processing (number of revisits from commented feedback to essay text). Results from multiple linear regressions with experimental condition, performance, and their interaction, as predictors for feedback revisits showed that performance strongly predicted feedback revisits in the comments-and-grade condition only (????_{condition*performance} = .37). In addition, performance strongly predicted emotional valence, but, again, solely in the comments-and-grade condition (????_{condition*performance} = .58). In summary, it seems that low-performing students experience stronger negative emotional outcomes when receiving a poor grade and tend to refrain from deeply processing commented feedback. Accordingly, educational interventions should specifically target the feedback processing mechanisms of these students.