This guide is part of a series on the Moderated Grading tool in Canvas. Other guides in the series are:

Guide: Understanding and Using Moderated Marking in Canvas

Moderated marking in Canvas can work in very specific circumstances, but it is not generally recommended by the eLearning Team. This guide explains why, outlines the risks, and provides step‑by‑step instructions for those who still need to use it.

1. Why We Don’t Recommend Moderated Marking

Moderated marking appears straightforward but often behaves in ways people don’t expect. Common issues include:

1.1 Hidden System Behaviours

Many staff assume the feature works like manual moderation processes, but Canvas handles the workflow differently. This mismatch leads to:

  • Incorrect assumptions about how markers are assigned
  • Unexpected restrictions when staff access submissions
  • Difficulty understanding why students only see certain feedback

1.2 High Risk of Problems Later

Moderated marking frequently causes:

  • Blocked markers
  • Blocked or Missing feedback
  • Delayed marking
  • Confusion over who is allowed to moderate
  • Inability to change marks after acceptance
  • Navigation issues when used alongside external tools (e.g., Cadmus)

Because of these risks, we strongly discourage using moderated marking unless you fully understand how it works and your marking workflow is very simple.

2. Setting Up Moderated Grading in Canvas

If you decide to proceed, here is how to configure it.

2.1 Create the Assignment

  1. Go to Assignments in your Canvas course.
  2. Click Add Assignment.
  3. Enter:
    • Assignment name
    • Description/instructions
    • Points
    • Marking type
  4. Choose Submission Type — usually File Upload.
  5. Set the allowed number of attempts.
  6. Enable plagiarism checking (Turnitin) if required.

2.2 Enable Moderated Grading

Scroll down to the Moderated Grading section and toggle it on.

You will then see several options:

3. Key Moderated Grading Options and Their Implications

3.1 Number of Graders (Maximum 10)

⚠️ This is the single biggest problem with moderated marking.

  • You can set up to 10 graders for the full assignment (including markers, second markers, moderators).
  • As soon as any staff member opens a student submission, that person automatically becomes one of the graders—even if they shouldn’t be marking.
  • It works like “musical chairs”:
    • Once the “seats” are filled, no other staff can open or mark work. If you have set this number to 2, then there are only 2 seats for everyone. If you set it to 10, it cannot be expanded further.
    • If you have GTAs or multiple markers, they may become blocked if more staff or GTA’s enter the SpeedGrader than was set.
    • This effects senior staff who are “just checking” how assignments are progressing.

Recommendation:
Set the number of graders higher than you actually need to give yourself buffer space.

3.2 Can Graders See Each Other’s Comments?

This determines whether the process is:

  • Blind double marking (graders cannot see each other’s feedback)
  • Open double marking (graders can see each other’s feedback)

Choose based on your local moderation policy.

3.3 Grader Who Determines the Final Grade (Moderator)

The moderator is:

  • The person who selects which grader’s mark will stand OR
  • The person who enters a custom final grade (this overwrites all other grades)

The moderator can also be set to:

  • See grader names (useful if you are tracking the progress of GTA’s completing marking)
  • Hide grader names (useful when blind marking is important)

Important:
When students receive their results, they only see:

  • The feedback from the accepted grader OR
  • Only the moderator’s feedback if a custom grade was entered

All other graders’ comments are hidden.

4. Anonymous Grading

UoM policy states that anonymous grading should be used wherever possible.

  • Student names are hidden during marking.
  • If you are not distributing marking via Sections or Diff Tags, Canvas automatically labels papers “Student 1, Student 2…”, allowing manual distribution between markers.
  • If you enabled Anonymous Instructor Annotations, feedback inside the document viewer will not show staff names. If you do not enable this then staff (or GTA) names are visible to students when feedback is released.
  • However, comments left in the Assignment Comments sidebar will always display the staff member’s name — this cannot be anonymised.
  • It is strongly recommended that you mention to your students proper etiquette when questioning feedback, especially when using GTA’s. As anonymous comments are not always anonymous, it is wise to teach students to reach out in an agreed-upon method.

5. Role Restrictions in Moderated Grading

Certain roles cannot act as the moderator:

  • A Secondary Teacher cannot be the final-grade determiner.
  • If a Unit Coordinator delegates moderation to someone without the correct Canvas role (pulled from Campus Solutions), that staff member will be unable to moderate.

Additionally:

  • Only the moderator can easily review all feedback from all graders. If the moderator is not the unit coordinator, this may cause issues.
  • The moderator cannot edit any other grader’s feedback.
    • They can only choose to accept or reject a grader’s mark and feedback.

6. Finalising Moderated Marking

6.1 Accepting Grades

When the moderator accepts all grades:

  • The grades are locked in the moderated grading panel.
  • But they are not released to students yet.
  • Release still needs to be done separately.

6.2 Editing After Acceptance

Once grades are accepted:

  • Grades cannot be changed in the moderated panel.
  • Any changes must be made directly in the Gradebook.

6.3 Access After Acceptance

After acceptance:

  • Everyone except the moderator loses access to the moderated grading panel.
  • Other staff cannot review or check moderation outcomes.

7. Important Caveat: Using Moderated Grading with Cadmus

If you are using Cadmus, an additional issue appears:

  • The Moderated Grading button disappears for the moderator.
  • This makes navigating back to the moderated panel extremely difficult or impossible.

This is one of the reasons moderated grading and Cadmus should not be used together.

Summary: Should You Use Moderated Grading?

You can — but only if:

  • You have very few markers
  • You understand the limitations
  • You don’t need flexible workflows
  • You are not using Cadmus
  • You don’t need access to all feedback after finalisation
  • You are prepared for a number of restrictions

For most units, the risks outweigh the benefits, and we recommend using alternative marking and moderation workflows designed outside of Canvas.

If you do wish to try moderated marking, we recommend that you set up a test submission alongside the eLearning team so you can properly plan your workflows.

Moderated Grading: Setup & Considerations