Gradescope Student Guide

Gradescope is an application for handing in your work and receiving detailed marks and feedback for exams and assignments. Online grading tools like Gradescope are designed to help your instructors and teaching assistants collaborate better on grading, so they can return outcomes to you more efficiently and fairly.

Access Not immediate Your instructor will need to set up a course first. Then you can access Gradescope through Canvas.
Bandwidth Yes Low demand on internet connections.
Privacy Yes Verified by UBC’s Privacy Impact Assessment process.

What will I use it for?

Your instructor may have you use Gradescope for any of the following:

  • Hand in scans of paper-based assignments, quizzes, or exams
  • Complete fully online assignments, quizzes, or exams
  • View grades and written feedback for your work

This tool guide was last reviewed in March 2023.

What do I need to use Gradescope?

A supported web browser

Gradescope runs in your web browser and supports using Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari. For which versions work, check the Gradescope supported browser page.

Tips

  • You can access Gradescope by logging in at gradescope.ca/login, once you’ve been enrolled in a Gradescope course and set up a password.

How do I use Gradescope?

Your instructor will set up access to Gradescope from your Canvas course and ensure you are enrolled. Then you can participate in the course activities your instructor assigns within Gradescope.

Click any bar below to find instructions and tips for using Gradescope.

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Access your course in Gradescope

  1. Log in to your Canvas course, and click Gradescope in the Course Navigation.
    • If you don't see this option in your Course Navigation, contact your instructor. This link needs to be enabled in the Canvas course for you to see it.
  2. Gradescope will open in a new window/tab with your course dashboard and all active assignments.

Tips

Hand in work with Gradescope

Whether your instructor has asked you to hand in an assignment, quiz, or exam, Gradescope will list your work as an assignment on the course page.

  1. Log in to your Canvas course and click Gradescope in the Course Navigation.
  2. You will see a list of assignments. Select the assignment you want to submit.
    • You may see a page telling you that your assignment will be timed. Click Start Assignment when you're ready.
  3. Gradescope assignments are completed based on how your instructor has set them up. Follow the prompts to submit your work.
  4. If you see an option to submit a PDF:
    • Select and upload your PDF.
    • If you see an "Assign Questions and Pages" page, follow the instructions on screen to match your pages with the questions.
    • If a success message pops up, you’re done! You will see a list of the questions on the right and your PDF pages on the left. You can click each question to verify that it highlights the part of your PDF that contains the answer to that question. If the questions and answers do not align, click Resubmit to follow the process again.
  5. If you see an option to submit images:
    • Select an image for each question.
    • Once you have finished, click Submit Assignment.
    • If a success message pops up, you’re done! You will see a list of the questions on the right and your images on the left. You can click each question to verify that it shows the image that contains the answer to that question. If the questions and answers do not align, click Resubmit to follow the process again.
  6. If you see a series of questions with varying ways to respond:
    • Enter answers as indicated in text boxes, radio buttons, and checkboxes or by uploading a file. For untimed assignments, you can click Save Answer for each question as you go. For timed assessments, answers are auto-saved.
    • When you have answered all the questions, click Submit & View Submission.
    • You will see a list of the questions on the right and answers on the left. You can click each question to verify your answer to that question. To edit your answers, click Resubmit.
  7. Gradescope will email you a confirmation of your submitted work, with a link to the submission.

Tips

  • To access Gradescope assignments, you can click the link to Gradescope from your Canvas Course Navigation or click a direct link to any Gradescope assignment in Canvas. Which link you use will depend on how your instructor has set up the course.
  • In most cases, you can resubmit work until the timer runs out or the due date passes. However, if your instructor has required you to do a timed assignment in a special browser called LockDown Browser, you will only be able to submit once.
  • If your instructor requires using LockDown Browser with Gradescope, you can get additional help. Check out Gradescope's submitting in LockDown Browser instructions and UBC's LockDown Browser student guide.

Troubleshoot issues with handing in Gradescope work

In general, we recommend that you submit PDFs, rather than images. If you will be scanning your work, we also suggest you use Gradescope's recommended scanning apps and instructions. These instructions will help you create PDFs that are small, high-resolution, and most likely to work with Gradescope.

If you've used the best practices above and are still having issues submitting your work, try the following:

  1. Use Gradescope's submission troubleshooting tips to try to fix the error yourself. Keep in mind how much time you have before the due date passes or the timer runs out, and contact your instructor if you are worried about missing the deadline due to technical problems.
  2. Once you've made any error corrections, try to open the assignment in Gradescope again and submit or resubmit your work.
  3. If you still have issues, contact help@gradescope.com from the email address associated with your Gradescope account. Include the name of the course, assignment, and the text / screenshot of any error notifications you see.

Review your graded work in Gradescope

Not all instructors will release grades using Gradescope; ask if you are not sure what to expect in your course.

  1. Log in to your Canvas course and click Gradescope in the Course Navigation.
  2. Select the assignment you want to review.
  3. Before your instructors and teaching assistants have finished grading, you will see an ungraded version of this assignment. Once grades are published, the status will change to graded. On the graded assignment, you will be able to see your total score as well as individual scores and written feedback for each question. Click any question on the right to view its details.
  4. Once you've clicked a question, you may see written comments either below the question score on the right or—for uploaded files—annotated on the submitted file itself. Gradescope will not indicate which questions have written comments or annotations, so it's best to go through each question by clicking Next Question.

Tips

  • Your instructor may choose to email you when graded work is available in Gradescope. You can click the link in the email to be taken directly to your work.
  • You may be able to request a regrade from the submission review page. Click a question and look for a "Regrade Request" button at the bottom of the page. Repeat this process for any other questions you would like regraded.
  • If you uploaded a PDF or image file as your submission, you can download a graded copy. Click the "Download Graded Copy" at the bottom of the page. This copy will contain your scores and any written comments or annotations.

Where can I get more support with Gradescope?

Technical support

If you have trouble with Gradescope:

If you have technical issues using Gradescope:

  • Contact Gradescope directly: help@gradescope.com.
  • Reach out to your instructors or teaching assistants with any questions, as they may be able to provide real-time assistance in helping you resolve issues.

Online learning support

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