Grading Exams and Tests, Question by Question
Every paper marked the same way, down to the last question on the last booklet — and behind every mark, the line of the student’s own answer it came from. Which is what you need when somebody asks.
Scanned booklets included. 100 papers a month on the free plan.
Nobody Queries a Friday Worksheet
They query the mock. A grade on an exam gets read by the student, discussed at parents’ evening, moderated by a colleague and occasionally challenged — and the honest problem with marking a hundred and twenty papers over a half-term is not that it takes a long time. It is that by paper ninety you could not reconstruct why paper twelve got what it got.
Marked Question by Question, Not Paper by Paper
Every question on every paper gets its own mark and its own comment, against your mark scheme rather than an overall impression. Multi-step working is read line by line, so a right method with one slip is marked as that. And you review it on the page itself — open question 7 and the paper scrolls to question 7, highlighted, with the mark beside it. That is how per-question marking works.
When Someone Asks, You Have an Answer
Behind every mark is the reasoning and the exact line of the student’s answer that produced it. Six weeks later, when a parent asks why question 14 got two marks and not four, you open question 14 and you are looking at what the marker looked at — not trying to remember a Sunday in November.
The same thing makes moderation quicker. A colleague second-marking your set is not re-reading a hundred papers to find the ones worth discussing — they are reading the marks and the evidence side by side, and stopping where they disagree.
And every mark is still yours. GradingPal suggests, you approve, and the paper carries your decision — including where you overruled it. That is how the marking works, and what we tested and what we found.
Booklets, Not Files
Exams arrive as paper. Run the set through the copier as one PDF and it splits into a paper per student, reads the handwriting and marks each one — with anything genuinely unreadable flagged for you rather than guessed at. Nobody’s booklet is quietly filed to the wrong name. See a whole class on paper.
The Question Every Class Got Wrong
Because every question is marked separately, you get a success rate for each one when the set is finished — and if three classes sat the same paper, you can see the question the whole year group missed rather than the one your class did. It also shows which wrong answer they chose, which is the difference between a shared misconception and a badly worded question. That is what to teach tomorrow.
Mocks Are Only Useful If They Come Back in Time
A mock marked over three weeks tells a student what they could not do three weeks ago. The point of a mock is the fortnight of teaching that follows it, and that fortnight starts when the papers come back. This is the marking event where turnaround is not a convenience — it is the whole educational argument.
- Mock and practice papers
- Full papers under timed conditions, marked to the same scheme the real one will use.
- Unit and end-of-topic tests
- The routine ones, where consistency across three classes matters more than anything.
- Mid-terms and finals
- Higher stakes, mixed formats, and a mark that goes on a report.
- Retakes and resits
- Marked the same way as the original, so the comparison actually means something.
Marked to Your Scheme
Bring the mark scheme you are using — the department’s, the one that came with the paper, or one you write yourself. It is applied question by question, at your marks and in your wording, and GradingPal shows which part of it each mark came from. Or start from ready-made rubrics.
What It Won’t Do
It won’t award the final mark
Every mark is a suggestion until you approve it. On an exam that matters more than anywhere, and the rule is the same as everywhere.
It isn’t an exam board, and it isn’t moderation
It marks to the scheme you give it. It does not certify a grade, replace a moderator, or stand in for your school’s own checking.
It won’t invigilate
GradingPal has nothing to do with how the paper was sat, and does not detect whether a student had help.
It won’t guess at an unreadable answer
Flagged for your judgement, and flagged questions queue up so none becomes a mark you never made.
More on what we will and won’t automate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can AI grade a whole set of tests?
Yes — every paper, question by question, against your mark scheme. Scan the set as one PDF and it splits into a paper per student before anything is marked. Every mark is a suggestion until you approve it.
If a student queries a mark, can I show them why?
Yes. Every mark carries the reasoning and the line of the student’s own answer it came from, so you can open that question weeks later and see what the marker saw rather than reconstructing it from memory.
Does it work on handwritten exam booklets?
Yes, and that is the normal case. Booklets scan as one PDF, split into a paper per student, and are marked question by question. Anything genuinely unreadable is flagged for you rather than guessed at.
Can I use my department’s mark scheme?
Yes. Bring the scheme you are already using — the department’s, the one issued with the paper, or one you write yourself. It is applied question by question at your marks and in your wording.
Will it show me which questions the class found hardest?
Yes. Marking every question separately produces a success rate for each one, including which wrong answer students chose — and where several classes sat the same paper, you can see the question the whole year group missed.
Does GradingPal moderate or certify grades?
No. It marks to the scheme you give it and suggests marks you approve. It is not an exam board, it does not replace a second marker, and your school’s own moderation still applies.
Mark the Set, Keep the Evidence
Every paper marked the same way against your scheme — and six weeks later, the line of the answer behind any mark, ready for whoever asks.