Grading settings for assignments
Updated 08 Jan 2026
Several assignment settings let you control ways in which a Mastering assignment is scored. Each standard Mastering assignment (includes parent assignments) inherits its security and other settings from the category it belongs to, whether Homework, Quiz, or Test.
Display scores as points or percentages in the Gradebook
Set your Gradebook display preference to either points or percentages. Scores are computed identically in either case, and you can change this setting at any time without affecting scoring data. Students always see their assignment scores as percentages on their Scores page.
As you edit assignment or category settings, apply one or more of these grading settings.
Penalize Late Answer Submissions setting
Initial settings for Homework, Quiz, and Test categories: Receive no credit for item parts that are submitted late
- Receiving no credit motivates students to answer all parts on time.
- Allowing late submissions motivates students to go back and complete any unfinished parts after the deadline.
To allow some credit for late submissions:
Fill out the percentage by which a student's score for a late part is reduced after the deadline (% loss for each hour/day late). This setting penalizes only parts that are submitted late, not the entire item or the entire assignment.
Allow multiple assignment attempts for best score
Initial settings for Homework, Quiz, and Test categories: Multiple attempts for best score is OFF
When you apply the setting for multiple attempts in an assignment or for an assignment category like Quiz, the Gradebook keeps the best score from each student’s assignment attempts.
You can give students 2, 3, 4, or 5 attempts for a better assignment score. The default is 3 (except for Interactive Lab assignments, which have a default of a single attempt).
Default Point Value per Item setting
The default is 1 point per item for the Homework, Quiz, and Test categories.
- You can change this value when you edit category settings.
- To adjust item point values in an assignment: Open the
Organization page (create/edit assignment process) and adjust the point value item by item. - To set up a different default point value for multiple assignments, create a new category, such as Labs, with a different default item point value. Then apply your new category to an assignment on the
Settings page (create/edit assignment process).
Ways to gain credit
Students always get credit for answering a part correctly before its due date.
Students can gain additional credit if you apply the following Hint settings for Homework assignments, whether by editing settings for a Homework assignment or editing settings for the Homework category. (Because they're meant to assess student knowledge, assignments with the Quiz and Test categories don't allow students to view Hints.)
- Give credit for correctly answering a question in a Hint - Encourages students to use Hints, which can lead them to the correct answer for a Part question.
- Give bonus credit for not opening a Hint - Provides an incentive to answer part questions without using a Hint. Accept the recommended 2% for the "Bonus per Hint not opened".
To view these Hint settings from the Grading and Presentation settings, select Adjust score based on Hint usage below the setting "Students Can View Hints and eText Review Link". (The Pearson eText is now also known as eTextbook.)
Ways to lose credit
Students always lose credit for not answering a part correctly.
Students can also lose credit in Homework assignments with the following default settings.
- Exhausting all attempts or giving up on a question in a part.
- Incorrectly answering a multiple-choice or true/false question before the last attempt.
- Deduction for each unique wrong answer in a part = 100% divided by the number of possible incorrect answers.
- For example, if there are 2 possible wrong answers, each wrong answer deducts 50%. If there are 3 possible wrong answers, each wrong answer deducts 33 1/3%.
- How multiple-choice and multi-select scoring is explained to students, see
- Incorrectly answering any other type of question before the last attempt. Deduction for each unique wrong answer in a part or hint = -3%.
The above doesn't apply to assignments with the Quiz or Test category.
Why quiz or tests don't lose credit the same as homework assignments
- No scoring related to hints is available because students are not allowed to view hints while completing the assignment.
- No scoring related to the number of answer attempts is available because students get only one answer attempt.
Scoring information for specialized assignments, like Dynamic Study Modules
Adaptive Follow-Up assignment scoring
Dynamic Study Module assignment scoring
Learning Catalytics session scores.
The Grading Policy lets students know about the grading settings applied for an assignment, like how many answer attempts students have for each question in the assignment.
See also: How grading works | If you change grading settings after students begin work