New in GradingPal 2.0
Grammar, Checked. Scores, Untouched.
Spelling, punctuation and grammar findings, underlined in the student’s own work. Click one to jump to it, dismiss anything you disagree with, and choose whether the writing is being held to UK or US conventions. Your rubric still decides the score.
One switch on any assignment. Off by default.
Nobody Went Into Teaching to Circle Apostrophes
There is a particular kind of tired that comes from marking the same missing apostrophe for the eleventh time in one evening, knowing that the student will look at the mark and not the margin. It is necessary work and it is not the work you are good at. Meanwhile the paragraph that actually needed your attention — the one where the argument collapses — got three words because you had run out of evening.
One Switch, and Nothing Else Changes
“Check grammar” is a single switch in the grading rules of any assignment, on every way of creating one. Turn it on for work you have already graded and it runs only the check — every score stays exactly where it was. There is no recalculation, no re-grade, and nothing to undo if you decide you would rather not see it.
A Tab of Its Own, With a Count
A third tab appears in the grading view, next to your rubric scoring and the written feedback, with the number right in the label: “Grammar · 12”.
The Shape at a Glance
Category tiles — spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalisation — show you what kind of problem this is before you read a single finding, and each one doubles as a filter. A student with twelve punctuation slips and no spelling errors needs a different conversation from one with the reverse.
One Line Each
Every finding is one compact line: the student’s words, then the fix. A ten-finding check fits on one screen, which means you can take it in rather than scroll through it.
Clean Work Says So
A student with nothing to flag still shows “Grammar · 0”. Checked-and-clean is information — it is worth knowing that a piece was read and came back clear, and an empty screen would not tell you that.
Underlined Where It Actually Happens
While the Grammar tab is open, every finding is underlined on the exact words in the student’s document. Click a finding and the document scrolls to it and pulses. Click an underline and its finding opens. The two sides always agree, so you are never hunting for the sentence a note refers to.
Disagree With Any of It
Opening a finding gives you a plain explanation — “their → there” — and the suggested fix. If you disagree, dismiss it. It leaves your view and the student’s, and it stays dismissed even if the check runs again later.
That last part matters more than it sounds. A dismissal that quietly reappears next week is worse than no dismissal at all, because it teaches you not to trust the control.
It Knows Which English You Teach
The check follows the assignment’s language setting. “Colour” is correct in UK English and flagged in US English, and the reverse is equally true — which means a UK teacher is not spending their evening dismissing the same six Americanisms on every essay, and a US teacher is not being told their students spell fine when they do not.
Spanish, French, German and Brazilian Portuguese writing is checked in those languages, not translated first and checked in English.
And if a piece turns out to be in a different language from the setting, GradingPal says so plainly rather than burying you in a hundred false errors. A wall of nonsense findings is how a teacher learns to ignore a feature permanently.
Example
An essay on An Inspector Calls, assignment set to English (UK). The Grammar tab reads “Grammar · 6”: six American spellings — “color”, “realize”, “center” — underlined in the document, each with the UK spelling one tap away. The essay’s score does not move.
Findings Inform. Your Rubric Decides.
Grammar findings never change a score. Not a little, not indirectly, not by nudging anything. If you want mechanics to count towards the mark, that belongs in your rubric — where it always has, and where you can weight it as heavily or lightly as your class needs.
The written feedback knows the findings exist, so it does not spend three sentences repeating them one by one. The Grammar tab is the census; the feedback stays about the ideas.
What It Reads, and Where It’s Less Certain
On typed work, the check reads every sentence.
On handwritten work and slides it is doing something harder, because it has to read the handwriting first. There it flags the notable errors with a page reference, and marks the ones it is unsure about rather than asserting them. That is an honest description of what is possible, and it is why the feature is most useful on typed work — which is also where most mechanics marking happens.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will grammar mistakes lower my students’ scores?
Only if your rubric says so. Grammar check shows findings to you and your student, but scores always follow your rubric. Turning the check on never moves a mark by itself.
Can I turn it on after I’ve already graded?
Yes. Turning it on for graded work runs only the check — every score stays exactly where it was. There is no re-grade and nothing to undo.
Does it use UK or US English?
Whichever the assignment is set to. “Colour” is correct in UK English and flagged in US English, and the reverse. A UK teacher’s account defaults to UK English, so most never change it.
Do students see the findings?
Yes, once you share feedback — and only the ones you kept. Anything you dismiss disappears from the student’s view as well as yours, and stays dismissed if the check runs again.
Which languages can it check?
English in UK and US conventions, plus Spanish, French, German and Brazilian Portuguese, each checked in its own language. If work is in a different language from the setting, GradingPal tells you rather than flagging every sentence.
Does it work on handwritten work?
Partly. On typed work it reads every sentence. On handwriting and slides it flags notable errors with a page reference and marks the ones it is unsure of, because it has to read the handwriting first.
Check the Writing. Keep the Mark.
One switch on any assignment shows every spelling and punctuation slip where it happens — and leaves every score exactly where your rubric put it.