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Late penalties can be managed manually or with automatic settings in Canvas. Find out how to manage different types of late submissions in your subject with this resource.
Late penalties in Canvas can be managed manually or can be automated using the Late Submission policy setting in the Canvas Gradebook. An assignment submission is labelled late when it is submitted anytime after the due date set in the assignment settings.
If you choose to manage late penalties manually, you need to calculate and apply late penalties for each late submission during marking.
If you choose to use the automated Late Submission policy setting in Canvas, a penalty will automatically be applied on all late submissions. However, markers and/or subject coordinators will still need to review late submissions manually to ensure automated late penalties are being applied in line with the UTS Coursework Assessments Procedure.
Important rules for applying late penalties
To align with the UTS Coursework Assessment Procedure, late submissions made less than 60 minutes after the due time (i.e. between 11:59PM and 00:59AM) must be manually reviewed by markers to have their Late status removed. Scroll down further to read more about how to manage submissions made less than 60 minutes after the due time.
Additionally, submissions that are more than 7 days late and do not have an approved extension must receive a score of zero (0).
Applying an automated late penalty in Canvas
You can use the Late Submission policy setting in the Canvas Gradebook to automate late penalties. For more detail see: How do I apply a Late Submission policy in the Gradebook?
In Grades, select the Settings icon, then select the Late Policies tab.
Select the ‘Automatically apply deduction to late submissions’ checkbox. In the boxes below, enter the following:
- Late submission deduction = 5%
- Deduction interval = Day
- Lowest possible grade = 0%
To save, select ‘Apply settings’.
Automated late penalties apply to the total points possible for an assignment. For example, a 5% penalty on a 100-point task equals a 5-point reduction. If submitted one day late, an assignment with a score of 75 points receives 70 after the penalty.
Additional considerations
- The Canvas Late Submission policy setting applies retroactively to all assignments and quizzes. Switch on the Late Submission policy setting at the start of session to avoid complications.
- The Canvas Late Submission policy setting applies to quiz submissions when multiple attempts are allowed and students attempt a quiz after the due date.
- The Late Submission policy setting does not apply to On Paper or No Submission assignments, or assignments without a due date.
- Canvas does not apply late penalties to external tools like Turnitin LTI Assignments. For example, if a late penalty is applied to a Turnitin LTI Assignment, the score in Canvas Gradebook will be updated with the deduction, but the score in Turnitin won’t be updated. To ensure students see accurate scores, use Canvas Assignments with Plagiarism Review instead.
Identifying and managing late submissions in Canvas
You can identify and manage late submissions in both SpeedGrader and the Gradebook.
In SpeedGrader: View the assignment status in the SpeedGrader sidebar. Use the Status dropdown menu to remove or adjust the Late penalty, if needed. For more detail, see: How do I change the status of a submission in SpeedGrader?
In Gradebook: Use Apply Filters to search by Status and select ‘Late’.
In the Gradebook late submissions are usually indicated by a blue-coloured cell. Select a cell to open the submission details. In the submission details, you can see how many days late a submission was and if a late penalty has been applied. You can also remove or adjust the late penalty, if needed. For more detail, see: How do I change the status of a submission in the Gradebook?
Managing submissions that are less than 60 minutes late
In line with the UTS Coursework Assessments Procedure, students must be subject to a late penalty if they submit an assignment more than 60 minutes after the deadline. Students who submit within 60 minutes of the assignment due time must have the automatic late status removed from their Canvas submission.
In SpeedGrader: select the Settings icon from the menu in the top left of the SpeedGrader window. Choose Options and sort the student list by the date they submitted the assignment. This sorts assignments by date and time of submission.
Navigate through submissions using the left and right arrows on the Student List in the top right of SpeedGrader. The date and time of submission is indicated underneath the Student List at the top of the SpeedGrader sidebar. For more detail, see: How do I sort the student list in SpeedGrader?
In Gradebook: assignments can be sorted by late status (see section How to identify and manage late submissions in Canvas) but it is not possible to view assignment submission times without opening SpeedGrader.