Create a Grading Scale

For grading student submissions in Moodle, the default method is point-based grading. Alternatively, Moodle also provides predefined grading scales. However, if these scales are not suitable for your purposes, this article will show you how to create your own grading scale in Moodle.

Note: Grading scales can only be used in the Assignment and Lesson activities.

Grading Scales in Moodle

Display Grading Scales
Display Grading Scales

In your Moodle course, navigate to the Grades tab to access the grading overview. Then, in the dropdown menu under the “More” section, you can find and click on Scales.

Here, you will find the scales already provided by Moodle, which you can use in your course.

Create a New Grading Scale

To create a new grading scale, click on the “Add a new scale” button at the top. In the window that opens, the first step is to assign a name to your new scale. Then, you have the option to decide whether this scale should be available in all Moodle courses you manage by ticking the box next to “Standard Scale”. If you only manage one course as an instructor, this box will not be selectable, and the scale will only apply to the current course (see figure “Create New Grading Scale”).

Create New Grading Scale
Create New Grading Scale

In the next step, create your scale. To do this, enter the desired grading levels as a list in the text field next to Scale, ordered from the most negative to the most positive value. The individual grading levels are separated by commas (see figure “Create New Grading Scale”).

It is also possible to enter just a single value here, for example, to create a “Like” rating similar to those used in social networks. Finally, you can optionally add a description to your scale if desired.

Using a New Grading Scale

Available Grading Scales
Available Grading Scales

After saving, you will be redirected back to the course scales page, and you will see that your new grading scale has been successfully created. However, it is not yet in use (see figure “Available Grading Scales”).

Select Grading Scale
Select Grading Scale

To use the newly created grading scale, you need to set up an activity (such as an assignment or lesson) in your Moodle course that will be graded. When creating the assignment, you will see two dropdown menus under the Grade section of the settings: Type and Scale.

Select Scale in the Type dropdown menu. Now, in the Scale, you can choose your newly created grading scale based on the name you assigned earlier (see figure “Select Grading Scale”).

Afterward, when grading your students, you will no longer see the default points-based grading system. Instead, you will see the customized grading scale you created, which you can use for evaluation.