Assessment readiness — when can I start marking?
An assessment moves through a few different states between the moment you upload it and the moment it’s ready to mark. This article explains what each state means — and what to do at each step.
The states
You’ll see the current state of an assessment in two places:
- As a status chip on the assessment card (in the Assessments list)
- At the top of the assessment detail page
There are five states an assessment can be in.
Processing
Marking.ai is reading your assessment paper and marking guide and pulling out the questions. This usually takes a minute or two.
What to do: wait. You can leave the page or come back later — you’ll be notified when it’s done.
Needs review
The questions have been extracted and Marking.ai needs you to review and confirm them before any marking happens.
What to do: click into the assessment and check the question list. Fix anything that looks off, then click Confirm Questions. See Reviewing extracted questions for the full walkthrough.
Ready
Your assessment is set up and ready for student work. You can now upload submissions and start marking.
What to do: click Upload submissions on the assessment page (or use the Start marking window). See Uploading submissions for the next step.
Failed
Something went wrong during processing — maybe the paper couldn’t be read, or the marking guide wasn’t readable.
What to do: click Retry Processing at the top of the assessment page. If retrying doesn’t help, the paper or marking guide may need replacing — see Replacing your marking guide, or try uploading the paper again as a clearer PDF.
If you’re stuck, drop us a line at connect@marking.ai and send us the file — we’ll take a look.
Draft
You’ll see this briefly when you’ve created an assessment but the paper hasn’t yet started processing — for example, if you cancelled out of the Start marking flow before continuing.
What to do: reopen the assessment to continue setup, or delete it if you started in error.
What if I want to mark before review is complete?
You can’t — marking is blocked until questions are confirmed. This is by design: marks against unconfirmed questions wouldn’t be reliable. The review usually only takes a minute or two.
What happens to marking status as I go?
Alongside the overall assessment status, you’ll see a Marking status that tracks how the marking job is going:
- Not started — no submissions have been marked yet
- In progress — a marking job is currently running
- Partially complete — some submissions are marked, others aren’t
- Complete — every submission has been marked
For more on marking status, see Tracking jobs: the Activity screen.
Need help?
Assessment stuck in one of these states? Click the chat icon in the app or email connect@marking.ai.
FAQs
My assessment has been processing for a while — is something wrong?
Most assessments process within a couple of minutes. If you’ve been waiting 10+ minutes, refresh the page; if it’s still processing, get in touch and we’ll look into it.
Can I upload submissions before my assessment is Ready?
No. You’ll need to confirm the extracted questions first. The Upload submissions button is hidden until your assessment is in the Ready state.
What does Needs review mean again?
It means Marking.ai has extracted the questions and is waiting for you to confirm them before marking. Open the assessment, check the question list, and click Confirm Questions.