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Moodle Help & Support (Staff)

This refers to Moodle 3.8 from September 2020 onward.

Please ensure within the Moodle assignment settings that "Offline grading worksheet" and "Feedback files" tick boxes have been checked.

Feedback types settings

Quick-Step Guide

  1. Download and Unzip files from Moodle assignment. Keep the files in a specific folder.
  2. Use Track Changes in Word or a PDF annotator to add your feedback to the submissions.
  3. Zip the marked files back into a .zip folder.
  4. Upload the new .zip to Moodle.

Full Instructions

Downloading submissions

  1. Navigate to the relevant module and click into the Moodle assignment.

Assignment on Moodle page

2. On the Grade Summary page, click 'View all submissions'

The 'View all submissions' button on Grade summary page

3. Check the "Select" tick box to select all students OR use the tick boxes next to each student to make a specific selection.

4. Scroll down to "With selected..." and select 'Lock submissions' then click on 'Go'

Lock submissions in dropdown menu

5. A popup will appear asking you to confirm your choice. Click 'OK'.

Lock submissions pop up window

Submissions will now be locked. Without this step, students can still resubmit so this is very important to do.

6. Next, scroll down to Options and tick the "Download submissions in folders" checkbox.

7. Scroll back up to "Grading action" dropdown menu and select 'Download all submissions'.

Download all submissions in Grading action dropdown

It is possible to filter your selection to a group by using the "Separate groups" tab, underneath "Grading action".

Separate groups dropdown filter

N.B. This function must be activated in the assignment settings, by selecting Common module settings > Group mode = Separate groups.
Group mode in Assignment settings

After downloading all submissions...

A .zip folder will be sent to your downloads folder on your computer

This .zip contains submission files for all of the students that you selected in the previous steps.

Student submission folders

The next steps take place outside Moodle, on your computer.

  • NOTE: If using OneDrive, work offline, and upload at the end of the process.
  • At the moment we recommend this is carried out on a desktop PC or Mac or a Surface Pro rather than an iPad.

Unzip the folder: extract the files. Move them to an area in your file folders named for your assignment.

  1. Right-click on the folder and select Extract All

Extract all files from a .zip folder

2. A pop-up window will appear. Press the 'Browse' button

Selecting a destination for unzipped files

3. Another pop-up window will appear, this time press the 'Make New Folder' button.

Making a new folder to add files to

4. A new folder will appear, in the window requiring a name for it. Enter a name for the folder (we recommend the module code or something relevant). Once named click on it and press the 'OK' button.

Changing the folder name

5. Then press the Extract button and the files will extract to that folder. 

Zip file is ready to extract files from

A folder is present for each student.


Add your feedback files into the relevant folder for the student. They can be in any format and any number of files.

Preparing offline marking



Go back to your Moodle site and assignment submissions and from the "Grading action" drop-down menu again select 'Download grading worksheet'. A .csv file will download to your computer. 


Download grading worksheet from dropdown


Marking assignments


Now that you have downloaded all the submissions and the offline grading worksheet, it is time to mark and provide feedback. Open the folder that contain the submissions and you will see that the students who had submitted have their own folders created. 

Important: please do not change the naming convention of these folders as this is what Moodle uses to ensure the feedback files are provided to the correct student.  


A folder is present for each student. 


Go into one of the folders and open the submission. You may wish to add any comments using the Word and PDF commenting tool, or by whatever mechanism you wish to use (by direct annotation using the Android tablets/Surface Pros - see how to annotate on Word using a Surface Pro). 

You can also add other documents in the folder, for example a marksheet.

Adding additional files to a student submission folder

Add your feedback files into the relevant folder for the student. They can be in any format and any number of files.

Drag and dropping a feedback file into student submission folder



When you are ready to save the document(s) save back to the student’s folder.

Files in student folder
Once you have annotated the assignment or completed any feedback documentation for an individual student, you may wish to enter the mark for the student in the CSV file.



Open the CSV file you previously downloaded; you will see a list of students who are on the module.
In column G of the CSV file called Grade you can enter the marks for the students. You can do this all in one go or spread it out over time as long as you save the CSV to your computer.
For large cohorts you may wish to use the sort data in Excel to help manage the marks and submissions. To do this click on the 'Sort & Filter' button in Excel. 

Adding student grade to Excel document

Sort and filter button in Excel

Uploading feedback

When you have finished adding feedback to the assignment you are now ready to upload them in bulk. 

  1. Zip up the folder which contains all the assignments and any files you provided feedback.
    You can this by right-clicking on the folder and selecting 'Send to' and then 'Compressed (zipped) folder'. If using a Mac right-click and select 'Compress'.

Note: The files must be selected individually - the zip must not contain a folder of files.
Compressing student folders

A new zip file will be created in the same location as the files. You can rename this folder, just like you would any other folder within windows (Right click > Rename). Once your zip file has been created, the next step is to load all of the feedback files into Moodle.

2. Go back to Moodle and on the submission information table page and from the "Grading action" drop-down menu select 'Upload multiple feedback files in a zip'

3. A new page will load where you upload the zip file. Either 

    1. Drag the zip file into the large rectangular window
    2. You can browse to and then upload the zip file. 
      To do this click 'Choose a file' and select the zip file. Then press 'Upload this file'

Drag and dropping a folder

4. Once the file has been uploaded press 'Import feedback file(s)'

'Import feedback file(s)' button


5. A new page will load which lists what changes you’re intending to make. Click the 'Confirm' button. 

Confirming changes

6. Another page will appear confirming uploaded files. Click 'Continue'

Confirmation of uploaded files

7. The student information table will appear. Scroll to the right and within the "Feedback files" column you will see the feedback documents have been uploaded to the correct students. 

Files appear for student

Returning the marks in bulk

  1. When you have completed adding in all marks on the CSV file, go into your Assignment and 'View Submissions'. On this page, click on the "Grading action" dropdown menu in the top left once more but this time select 'Upload grading worksheet'. 

Upload grading worksheet from grading action dropdown

2. A new page will appear. Upload the CSV file by either dragging it into the rectangular window or by clicking 'Choose a file' then finding your CSV file then clicking the 'Upload this file' button.

Where to drag and drop or upload the CSV file to

3. When the file is uploaded you will either see an icon or the name of the file. You will see a check box entitled "Allow updating records that have been modified more recently in Moodle an in the spreadsheet". Check this box to overwrite what is already in Moodle. Click the 'Upload grading worksheet' button. 

Allowing changes to grading worksheet

4. A new page will load which lists the changes that will be made if you confirm them. Check you are happy with the marks and then press 'Confirm' 

Confirming changes to worksheet

5. Another page will load that states the changes have now been made. Click the 'Continue' button. 

Confirming changes have been made

6. You will then be taken to the student information table. In the "Grades" column you will now see the marks have been added to Moodle. 

Grades are now in Moodle

7. It is possible that a student may submit late after you have done your marking. You can if you wish use the CSV file method. If this is the case then download the CSV file again and enter the mark for the student who has submitted. Save the CSV file and then upload it once and the mark should be populated. You can also update existing marks by following the same procedure. In practice, it is easier just to click in the text box beneath "Grade" and enter the mark there. 

Adding marks after CSV upload

Releasing all marks to students at once


  1. Begin by accessing the student submission information table: Moodle Assignment > Grading Summary > View All Submissions

  2. From there, scroll down to the Options and set Assignments per page to All. This gives you the power to release as many of the marks as you wish, instead of a predesignated number.

View all assignments button

3. 'Select All' of the students if you wish to release all of the marks together, or use the checkboxes to make a selection.

Select all students

4. Scroll down to "With selected..." dropdown menu and opt for 'Set marking workflow state' and select 'Go'


Selecting 'Set marking workflow state' from dropdown menu

5. Click 'OK' on the popup that follows.

Set marking workflow state pop up window

6. The next page will list all of the students that you have selected. To release the marks, set "Marking workflow state" to 'Released' and "Notify Students" to either 'Yes' or 'No'.

7. Click 'Save changes' to release the marks.

Releasing the marks

Video Tutorial - Moodle Assignment Uploading feedback files in bulk


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