> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gradingpal.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Set up an assignment with Guided

> Approve the questions, answer keys or rubric one step at a time before anything is graded. Every step saves as you go.

export const updated_0 = "19 September 2026"

export const page_0 = "/teachers/create/guided-setup"

export const label_0 = "Open your dashboard in GradingPal, then select New assignment"

export const href_0 = "https://app.gradingpal.ai/teacher"

export const who_0 = "Teachers and co-teachers"

export const plans_0 = "All plans"

export const where_0 = "New assignment > Guided, from your dashboard or any class page"

<Card title="Who can use this?" icon="user-check">
  * **Who:** {who_0}
  * **Plans:** {plans_0}
  * **Where:** {where_0}
</Card>

### Limits and notes

* A handout is one document up to 100 MB. Handout materials, such as readings, take up to 10 files and 300 MB in total.
* Guided sets up the assignment only. You add student work afterwards, from the assignment page.
* Every step saves as you go. You can close the tab and come back.

### Before you start

You need a class. Have the assignment ready: for writing, presentations, art and media, the instructions you gave students and a rubric if you have one; for quizzes, exams, worksheets and problem sets, the blank handout as a file.

## Which steps you'll see

The wizard shows five steps, and which five depends on the type you pick.

<Note>
  **Open response** (Writing & Essays, Presentations, Art & Design, Video & Audio): **Type**, **Details**, **Rubric**, **Feedback**, **Student work**.

  **Question based** (Quizzes, Worksheets, Exams, Problem Sets): **Type**, **Handout**, **Questions**, **Answer keys**, **Student work**. There is no Feedback step; feedback settings live on the Handout step.
</Note>

## Set up step by step

<Steps>
  <Step title="Start a new assignment">
    On your dashboard or any class page, select **New assignment**. Pick the class if you're asked, choose **Guided**, then select **Continue**. The wizard opens on **Step 1 of 5** \[1], with the step names across the top and **Continue** \[2] at the bottom.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Type: choose what you're grading">
    Under **What are you grading?**, pick a card from **Open response** or **Question based**. **Continue** stays greyed out until you do. The choice saves as soon as you make it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Details, or Handout">
    **For open response**, the step is **Details**. Type an **Assignment title**. Under **Instructions**, choose **Generate with AI**, **Upload an assignment** or **Write it yourself**; instructions are optional, but the AI reads them to grade in context. **Standards focus** and **Materials & organization** are optional.

    **For question based**, the step is **Handout**. Type an **Assignment title** and upload the blank handout; the AI reads it and pulls out each question. Add your answer key under **Answer key / rubric** if you have one, or leave it blank and the AI drafts answer keys. Set **Award partial credit** and **Check grammar** under **Grading rules**, and the **Feedback length**.

    When you select **Continue** on a handout, the page reads **Reading your assignment…**. Short worksheets take a minute or two; long exams can take five or six. It moves on by itself when it's done.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Rubric, or Questions">
    **For open response**, the step is **Rubric**. Under **Build your rubric**, choose **Generate with AI**, **Reuse existing** to pick from your library, **Import a file**, or **Start manually**. Give it a **Rubric title**, check each criterion and its levels, and edit anything. **Continue** needs at least one criterion.

    **For question based**, the step is **Questions**. Your handout sits on the left and the questions the AI found on the right. Fix wording, points and order, add or delete questions and sections, then **Save changes**. **Continue** tells you if a question still needs points.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Feedback, or Answer keys">
    **For open response**, the step is **Feedback**. Under **Grading rules**, set the **Language of student work** and whether to **Check grammar**. Under **Feedback**, pick a **Feedback style** and **Feedback length**, and add any instructions in your own words. Nothing here blocks **Continue**.

    **For question based**, the step is **Answer keys**. The AI drafts an answer key for every question as you arrive; wait for **Generating rubrics…** to finish. Mark the correct answers, check the points, and edit the rubric on any open-ended question. **Continue** saves and finalises the answer keys.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Student work: decide where the work comes from">
    Choose **I'll upload the work**, **Students submit in GradingPal**, or **Students submit in Google Classroom**. The Classroom card only appears for a class linked to Classroom.

    If students submit, set **When students can see it** to **Open now** (or **Post now** for Classroom), **Schedule**, or **Keep hidden** (or **Don't post yet**), and set the **Deadline**. Times use the class's time zone.

    Select **Continue**. The page reads **Taking you to your assignment…** and the assignment's **Submissions** tab opens.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Leaving and coming back

Every step saves. If you close the tab, the assignment waits on your dashboard under **Continue working** with a **Finish setup** button, and in the class's **Assignments** list with a **Draft** pill. Opening it takes you back to the step you were on.

## How to tell it worked

The **Submissions** tab opens. If you chose to upload the work yourself, the assignment carries a **Teacher-only** chip and the bar at the top reads **Upload student work**. If students submit, the pill reads **Live**, **Scheduled** or **Draft** to match what you chose, and the bar tells you what students can see.

## If something goes wrong

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Continue shows a red note instead of moving on">
    The note names what's missing: "Give your assignment a title.", "Upload your assignment to continue.", "Add a criterion to continue.", or how many questions need points. Fix it and select **Continue** again.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Reading your assignment has been running for a long time">
    Long exams can take five or six minutes. If nothing has changed after that, refresh the page. The wizard picks up where it was.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="It says No questions found, or We couldn't read this document">
    A text PDF beats a photo, and a password-protected file can't be read at all. Select **Try a different file** or **Try again** with a clearer copy.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The Type step is greyed out">
    The assignment already has submissions, so its type can't change. For question-based work, **Type** and **Handout** also lock once the handout has been read. Questions and answer keys stay editable.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related tasks

* [Instant or Guided: which to use](/teachers/create/instant-or-guided)
* [Set up an assignment with Instant](/teachers/create/instant-setup)
* [Upload student work yourself](/teachers/collect/upload-student-work)
* [What each status means](/teachers/collect/statuses)

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</Card>

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