Assignment Troubleshooting: Drafts instead of Submissions

Submissions left in Draft (not submitted) status can cause problems for both instructors and students. Here are some of the issues that can arise and how to resolve them.

Draft submissions will…
  • Prevent the Submitted/Require grading filter from accurately displaying assignments.
  • Prevent the system from accurately reflecting whether a submission was completed on time.
Draft submissions will not…
  • Prevent students from seeing your provided feedback (file or comments) or their grade.

NOTE: You cannot manually change the Draft status. However, you can opt to grade the draft anyway and provide feedback.

First, Action the Submitted Work

  • Grade them anyway. Turn off your filters and manually grade each submission, paying attention to when it was last modified rather than the submission date. – OR –
  • Have the student resubmit. It may be early enough that you can ask your student to review their submissions and (on the same page where they would upload their submission) click the button to confirm that submission.

Then, Prevent this from Happening Again

Check Assignment settings.

Turn on Edit mode

Locate the Assignment.

Click the Edit menu (three vertical dots) and select Edit Settings option.

Scroll down to the Submission settings section and expand it.

Change/Ensure Require students to click submit button is set to No.

Change/Ensure Require that students accept the submission statement is set to No.

Scroll to the bottom of the page.

Click the Save and return to course button.

Repeat for each assignment in your course.