The scores in the Total column of your Gradebook in Canvas is what is reported to the Registrar at the end of the semester. It is crucial that this column accurately reflects the performance of each of your students.


If the Total column in your Gradebook doesn't seem to reflect the grades you're expecting for your students, please be aware of the following common issues that contribute to grading errors. We will use a sample Gradebook to illustrate the issues, along with notes below:



  • Student 1 is a model student, having completed all four assignments with perfect scores, correctly resulting in 100% in the Total column.

  • Student 2 has submitted work for Week 3 and the Final Exam that are waiting to be graded. Canvas is waiting for instructor input, and in the meantime, only reports a Total score based on the Week 1 and Week 2 assignments.

  • Student 3 has scores for every assignment in the Gradebook, so their Total grade is correct at 90%.

  • Student 4 has a blank entry for the Final Exam, so Canvas does not currently include the Final Exam as part of the Total grade calculation for them. At first, a Total grade of 66.67% (D) seems "about right," but if the student actually missed the Final Exam and it should be a 0, the Total grade really should be 50/100 points, or 50% (F).

  • Student 5 stopped attending class and didn't do any assignments after Week 1. However, they currently have 100% in the class! This is because Canvas doesn't have a score yet for the remaining 3 assignments, so it can only give a Total score based on the graded Week 1 assignment. The instructor must input 0 for each of the remaining assignments, at which time the grade will change to 25% (F).


If you would like to automate the process so that late assignments (as defined by assignment Due Dates) are automatically marked as a 0, you can click on the gear icon in the Gradebook to access the Late Policy settings. Here is an example configuration where late assignments are automatically set to a score of 0, and any work submitted after the deadline (if allowed by the assignment's Available Until date setting) is subject to a daily percentage deduction:


Be sure to verify your Late Policies settings. The "Grade percentage for missing submissions" seems to default to 100% instead of 0%!