> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.lena.africa/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Grade an assignment and release the grades > Mark each student’s work, with or without a rubric, then release every grade at once so students can see them. Grades you give are drafts: only the people teaching the course see them, and the gradebook doesn't count them. Students see nothing until you **release** the grades, all at once. Owners, teachers and assistants can grade; owners and teachers release. ## Find the work Open a published assignment and choose the **Submissions** tab. Every student on the course is listed, with a status. The line under the heading tells you what's left before you can release. ![The Submissions tab listing students with statuses such as Submitted and Late Submission, and a Release button](https://mintcdn.com/lenaafrica/1V8qk96nF4TQHWmx/images/teacher/submissions-list.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=1V8qk96nF4TQHWmx\&q=85\&s=7f674c81d9a9bf2243c327243e44fdc9) The Submissions tab once the deadline has passed. | Status | Means | | - | - | | **Submitted** / **Late Submission** | Handed in, on time or after the due date. Ready to grade. | | **Pending** | Nothing handed in yet, and there's still time. | | **No Submission** | The deadline has passed and nothing came in. | | **In person** | An in-person assignment: grade it from the work you collected. | | **Graded** | You've saved a grade. Students can't see it yet. | | **Review** | Lena Agent graded it and you approved it without opening it. Check it before you release. | | **Released** | The student can see the grade. | ## Grade a submission **1. Open the student’s work** Choose the student's name, or **View submission** in the row's menu. Their text and files open, with their matric number and email at the top. **2. Choose Grade** The grade column opens beside the work. A grade you've already saved shows **Edit grade**. **3. Score the work** **With a rubric**, pick a level for each criterion (or type points), and add a **Comment** if you like. **Without one**, enter the **Score**, from 0 to the assignment's marks. ![A student's essay beside the grade column, with a level picked for each of three criteria and general feedback filled in](https://mintcdn.com/lenaafrica/1V8qk96nF4TQHWmx/images/teacher/rubric-graded.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=1V8qk96nF4TQHWmx\&q=85\&s=a60b549049130dafb0ee568c499a7c37) A rubric grade: one level per criterion, a comment, and general feedback. **4. Add feedback and save** Write any **General feedback**, then choose **Save** (or **Save score** without a rubric). **5. Move to the next student** The bar at the bottom shows how many are graded, such as "4 / 20 graded". Use **Prev** and **Next** to move along the class. If you move on with scores you haven't saved, Lena asks "Leave without saving?". Choose **Stay**, or **Leave** to lose them. Tick "Don't ask again while I'm grading" to stop the question. ## Let Lena suggest the marks If your school has [Lena Agent](https://support.lena.africa/agent/what-it-can-do.md), the rubric form has **Suggest with AI**. Lena reads the student's work and fills a level, points and a comment for each criterion, with a line on why. A note says "Lena suggested these scores." Change what you disagree with, then choose **Save**: nothing is saved until you do. If you'd already started the grade, Lena asks whether to **Fill only what's empty** or **Replace with Lena's suggestion**. To have Lena mark the whole class at once, see [marking with Lena](https://support.lena.africa/agent/grading.md). ## Grades in Review When you [ask Lena Agent to mark a class](https://support.lena.africa/agent/grading.md) and approve its grades without opening each one, those grades are saved **in Review**. They count as graded, but you haven't checked them yet. You can't release until every one is cleared. To clear them: * Open the submission, check it, and save any change, or choose **mark it reviewed** in the note at the top. * Choose **Mark as reviewed** in a row's menu. * Switch the list to **Review**, then choose **Review all** to clear every one without opening them. ## Release the grades **1. Finish grading** **Release** turns on when every piece of work is graded, nothing is in Review, and the deadline (or late deadline) has passed. **2. Choose Release** The dialog says how many students didn't submit. Each of them gets a 0. ![The Release grades? dialog saying students will see their grades, the assignment closes, and students who didn't submit get a 0](https://mintcdn.com/lenaafrica/1V8qk96nF4TQHWmx/images/teacher/release-grades-dialog.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=1V8qk96nF4TQHWmx\&q=85\&s=786911edbdffce60d97a44c3780489c5) Releasing closes the assignment for good. **3. Confirm** Choose **Release**. Students can see their grades and feedback, and the gradebook counts them. > [!WARNING] > > Releasing can't be undone. The assignment closes: no more work is handed in, whatever its deadline, and the grades > can't be changed. ## See how the class did The **Insights** tab shows how the class is doing, before or after you release, and is a good place to decide what to go over again. * **With a rubric:** the class average, where the lost marks went, and a row per criterion. "Most marks lost" marks the weakest. Open a criterion to see who is on each level. Once the grades are released, **Download** saves them, criterion by criterion, as an Excel file. * **Without a rubric:** the average, the spread of marks in bands, and who is **Not graded yet**. **Grade** opens the next student to grade. If your school has [Lena Agent](https://support.lena.africa/agent/what-it-can-do.md), it can plan what to go over again with the class, with one short activity. Without a rubric, choose **Plan a reteach**. With one, open a criterion the class found hard and choose **Plan a reteach on …**. The plan opens in a chat. ![The Insights tab with the class average, a bar of where the lost marks went, and a row for each rubric criterion](https://mintcdn.com/lenaafrica/L730hi-OSS5z45py/images/teacher/assignment-insights.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=L730hi-OSS5z45py\&q=85\&s=364735cf92e8dc16edfde6309d40403e) Insights for a rubric-graded essay. ## Good to know * **Before the deadline**, you can grade only students who have handed in. After it, you can grade anyone. * **In-person assignments** have nothing to upload, so you grade every student on the course before you can release. * **You need to be online to save a grade.** Offline, the form says "You're offline. Reconnect to save this grade." * **After release**, rubric assignments have **Download grades** in the Submissions tab's **⋮** menu, for an Excel file of the grades. * **You can give points between two levels.** No level is picked, and the student sees their score between the two. ## Troubleshooting > [accordion] Release is greyed out > > Read the line under **Submissions**. It says what's left: submissions to grade, grades in Review, or the date you > can release after. > [accordion] There’s no Grade button for a student > > They haven't handed in and the deadline (or late deadline) hasn't passed. You can grade them once it has. > [accordion] “Score must be between 0 and 20.” > > The score is higher than the assignment's marks (20 here). Enter a score no higher than the marks. > [accordion] “A hand-in may still be on its way from a student whose connection dropped.” > > The deadline has only just passed, and a student who handed in offline may still be getting through. Wait a few > minutes, then choose **Release** again. ## Next > [card] [Read the gradebook](https://support.lena.africa/teachers/gradebook-and-insights.md) > > See every student's weighted total, and export it. > [card] [Run a quiz](https://support.lena.africa/teachers/quizzes.md) > > Multiple-choice questions, marked for you. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.