Marking submissions with SpeedGrader

SpeedGrader is Pallara's marking view for working through a queue of submissions quickly: keyboard navigation, a reusable comment bank, a clickable rubric that sums itself, and optional AI grading assistance. This guide marks one assessment end to end.

Open the marking queue

1. 1
   In the Staff Portal, go to Marking. The queue shows every assessment with ungraded submissions, oldest first.
2. 2
   Select the assessment. SpeedGrader opens on the first ungraded submission, with the rubric on the right.

The SpeedGrader layout: submission left, rubric and comments right.

Mark with the rubric

1. 3
   Read the submission, then click the level you're awarding on each rubric criterion. The total sums automatically — no arithmetic, no transcription.
2. 4
   Add feedback. Type freely, or open the comment bank with B and insert a saved comment, then personalise it.
3. 5
   Optionally, click AI assist for a suggested mark and draft feedback against the rubric. Review and edit before saving — the suggestion is never applied automatically.

Move through the queue

1. 6
   Save and advance with ⌘ Enter. Use J / K to move without saving.
2. 7
   When the queue is empty, choose Release grades. Students get an automatic "grade released" notification, and every mark lands in the gradebook and the activity log.

What happens next

Released grades update completion tracking and mastery, feed assessment analytics and moderation, and — where a grade contributes to an at-risk score — recalculate the student's flag overnight. Every change is recorded in the activity log: who marked what, and when.