Gradebook Settings
The Late Submission policy allows you to automatically deduct points on all late submissions. A submission is labeled late when it has been submitted past the due date. Only assignments with a status of Late will be affected by the Late Submission policy. The late policy will be applied to a submission when it is graded.
Late Submission policies only apply to the course in which they are configured. Late Submission policies will affect previously graded assignments, but do not affect assignments in closed grading periods or submissions for students with concluded enrollments. Disabling a Late Submission policy will not remove late penalties from previously graded assignments.
The Late Submission policy allows you to define a percentage of the total points possible on an assignment that will be deducted for late submissions. Points can be deducted per day or hour the submission is late. For example, if the Deduct field is set to 10%, the interval is selected for Day, and the assignment is worth 10 points, 1 point will be deducted per day. If a submission is 2 days late, and the student is awarded full points, their final grade on the assignment would be 8 points (2 days late x 1 point deduction per day = 2 point Late Penalty).
To calculate a late penalty, Canvas rounds up the day or hour to the next whole number. For example, you may set a 10% per day late submission policy. If a student submits a 10-point assignment 1.3 days late, the late penalty will round 1.3 days up to 2 days. The student's score will reflect a 20% (2 point) late submission deduction.
Additionally, you can define the lowest possible grade threshold for a late policy. The lowest possible grade percentage is the lowest score a student can receive when late policy deductions are applied to grades entered above that percentage. Any grade awarded equal to or below that percentage will not receive late policy deductions.
For example, if the Late Submission policy is set to deduct 10% per day for late submissions, and a student submits 8 days late to an assignment worth 10 points, the student's grade would be 2 points if they were awarded full credit on the assignment (8 days late x 1 point deducted per day = 8 point Late Penalty). However, if the Lowest grade possible is set to 60%, the student's grade will be adjusted to 6 points. Any grades awarded that are less than or equal to 6 will not have late policies applied.
Notes:
- Setting a Late Submission policy affects all assignments in a course, including assignments with due dates in the past. To exclude a specific assignment, mark the submission as something other than Late in the Grade Detail Tray.
- For the calculation of the Late Penalty, days late will be rounded up to the next whole number. For example, if a student submits 1.3 days late, the Late Penalty will treat the student as 2 days late. This behavior also applies for hour durations.
- Applying a deduction to late submissions will automatically affect any previously graded submissions. Therefore, the Late Submission policy should be set up when a course is created prior to creating assignments.
- The Late Submission policy will not affect submissions in closed grading periods or submissions for concluded enrollments.
- The Late Submission policy will not be automatically applied to No Submission or On Paper assignments. However, a Late label can be added in the Grade Detail tray.
- The Late Submission policy will not affect submissions for Complete/Incomplete assignments.
- The Late Submission policy may not work correctly when applied to a quiz created using the Classic Quizzes tool and when also using a Missing Submission policy. To ensure the late deduction is properly calculated for these quizzes, you must set an Until date and time that occurs after the Due date. If you do not set an Until date for the quiz, you can set the quiz fudge points to 0 in SpeedGrader when grading the quiz.
1. In Course Navigation, click the Grades link.
2. Click the Settings icon.
3. In Gradebook Settings, view the Late Policies tab.
Apply Grade for Missing Submissions
4. Check this box to automatically apply a certain percentage for a missing assignment. To learn more, go to the Apply a Missing Submission Policy page.
Apply Deduction to Late Submissions
5. Click the Automatically apply deduction to late submissions checkbox. To learn more, go to the Apply a Late Submission Policy page.
Note: Selecting this checkbox will automatically apply the deduction you set for any late submissions in the course that have previously been graded as well as apply to future late submissions you grade.
To set the percentage you want late submissions to be deducted, set a percentage in the Deduct field [1]. Then set the interval for which you would like Canvas to deduct points in the For each late drop-down menu [2]. Available interval options are Day or Hour.
To manage the lowest possible grade threshold for the late policy, enter a percentage in the Lowest possible grade field. The lowest possible grade percentage is the lowest score a student can receive when late policy deductions are applied to grades entered above that percentage. Any grade awarded equal to or below that percentage will not receive late policy deductions.
6. Click Update.
Grade Detail Tray
In the Grade Detail Tray, you can view details about the student's grade and adjust settings on each student's individual submission.
In the Grade info section [1], you can view or edit the grade you awarded the student for their submission, the late penalty deduction, and the student's final grade on the assignment.
In the Status section [2], you can view how many days late the student submitted the assignment and adjust the amount of days late in the interval field. You can also manually change the submission to a status other than Late, but changing the status will remove any late penalties that had been automatically applied to the student's submission.
Late Policy Warning
If you set a late policy, and then adjust any of the parameters, Canvas will display a warning to notify you that changing the late policy will affect previously graded submissions. To exclude a submission from the late penalty you will have to manually change a submission's status to something other than late in the Grade Detail Tray.
You can use posting policies in the Gradebook to manage assignment grade visibility for students. Posted grades are visible to students in your course. Hidden grades are visible to you in the course gradebook, but students cannot see them.
Posting policies can be set for an entire course and/or individual assignments. Assignment-level posting policies will override the course-level posting policy for that assignment. When a posting policy is set to automatic, grades are manually posted to students when they are entered. When a posting policy is set to manual, grades must be manually posted to students using the Post grades option before they can be viewed.
Posted grades can also be hidden using the Hide grades option. The Hide grades option only hides grades that are currently visible to students. In order to ensure all future assignment grades are hidden, you will need to use a manual posting policy for the assignment or course.
Note: It is recommended that you set course and assignment posting policies before entering grades.
The Posting Policies Flowchart outlines how posting policies work for instructors in their courses. You should select a course posting policy based on your general grade posting preference. You can then set posting policies for individual assignments as needed.
You can also hide previously posted grades, especially if you need to fix errors or if grades were posted erroneously.
When students have set grade notification preferences, they will receive notifications when grades are posted, as indicated in the flowchart.
Set a Course Posting Policy
By default, Canvas courses have an Automatic posting policy [1]. Assignment grades are visible to students as soon as grades are entered in the gradebook or submitted in SpeedGrader.
Alternatively, you can select a Manual posting policy for your course [2]. Assignment grades are hidden from students until manually posted. Students can see peer review comments when assignment grades are hidden. However, students can only see instructor comments if the instructor posts grades or submission comments.
Learn how to select a course posting policy.
Set an Assignment Posting Policy
You can also select grade posting policies for individual assignments. When you set an individual assignment posting policy, the course posting policy is overridden for that assignment.
For example, if you use an Automatic course posting policy, you may wish to hide assignment grades for a specific assignment until all submissions are graded. You can set a Manual posting policy for the assignment, and grades will remain hidden from student view until you manually post them in your course.
Learn how to select an assignment posting policy.
Post Hidden Grades
When you are ready to make grades visible to students, you can post grades and/or submission comments for a specific assignment. You can post grades for everyone in the course [1], or you can post only grades for graded submissions [2].
When you post grades for everyone, ungraded submissions display no grade.
When you post grades for graded submissions and/or submission comments, any ungraded assignment grades that are updated later will remain hidden until manually posted.
If you make updates to posted grades, students can view these updates and, depending on their notification settings, may receive a grade-change notification.
Learn about posting grades for an assignment. Learn about posting grades for an assignment from SpeedGrader.
Hide Posted Grades
If you need to hide grades that have already posted for students to view, you can Hide Grades in the gradebook. Hiding grades only affects grades that were previously entered.
Learn about hiding assignment grades. Learn about hiding grades for an assignment from SpeedGrader.
Notes:
- When you hide grades, the assignment retains its posting policy. If you add assignment grades for additional students to an assignment with an automatic posting policy, those grades display for students.
- After hiding grades, if you want to hide additional student grades for the assignment, set the assignment posting policy to Manual.
View Gradebook Posting Policy Icons
Assignments with a manual posting policy display a Manual label [1]. When you enter grades for manual posting policy assignments, the gradebook displays a Visibility icon [2]. Students cannot see their assignment grade until you post them. Additionally, when an assignment grade is hidden for a student, the Total column displays a Visibility icon [3].
The Final Grade Override allows you to enter a final grade for students that is different from the grade automatically calculated by Canvas in the Gradebook. You can enter a letter grade or a percentage. A letter grade results in the lower bound of the grading scheme. A percentage is retained as the override score.
Students can view the overridden grade in their Grades page. However, students will not know the score has been overridden.
Notes:
- Final Grade Override is currently a course opt-in feature. To enable the final grade override, learn how to manage course features.
- When a grader, such as an instructor or TA, enables the Final Grade Override option, the Override column displays for all graders in the course. Likewise, the Override column will be hidden if disabled by another grader in the course.
- The override column is included in Gradebook exports and can be changed with a Gradebook import.
- If your SIS accepts final grades through grade passback, any entered override grades are included in SIS syncs in place of the calculated final grade.
- After the final grade override feature option has been enabled in a course, both the Gradebook and Final Grade Override options cannot be disabled.
- Final grade override actions are not recorded in the Grading History page, which only records changes for individual assignments.
- If the student context card feature option is enabled for an account, the student context card displays the override grade for a student.
1. In Course Navigation, click the Grades link.
2. Click the Settings icon.
3. In Gradebook Settings, open the Advanced tab and then click the Allow final grade override checkbox. Click the Update button.
Enter Override Grade
The override column displays at the far right of the Gradebook. Locate the student whose grade you want to override and enter a percentage or a letter grade in the Override column.
To delete an overridden grade, click the grade cell and click the Delete key.