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When you start a new assignment, GradingPal asks How would you like to set up this assignment? and shows two cards, sometimes three. Whichever you pick, you check everything before students see anything.

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Instant

You upload the assignment, plus student work if it’s ready, and the AI sets up and grades everything in one go. You review the grades at the end. The card says ~4 min, and that’s about right for your part. Grading itself runs in the background. Pick Instant when your rubric or answer key is already written, or when you’re happy for the AI to draft one from the assignment and fix it afterwards.

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Guided

The AI drafts the assignment one step at a time, and you approve each part before anything is graded: the questions, the answer keys, the rubric. Grading happens later, once work arrives. The card says ~12 min. Pick Guided when the AI is writing your rubric or pulling questions out of a handout and you want to check its work first.

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Import

A third card, Import, appears only for classes linked to Google Classroom. It brings an assignment and its turned-in work across from Classroom. Its badge shows how many Classroom assignments are ready to import, and the card is greyed out when there are none.

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The deciding difference: drafts

Instant keeps no draft. Leaving the page discards the text, the files and the rubric. If you have to stop, create the assignment first. Everything is kept once it exists. Guided saves as you go. Close the tab halfway through and the assignment waits under Continue working on your dashboard with a Finish setup button, and in the class list with a Draft pill.

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Side by side

Not sure? The chooser has a What’s the difference? link that walks through the same comparison in five short screens.

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What this does not mean

  • Instant does not mean the AI shares anything. Grades land in Needs review, and nothing reaches students until you share.
  • Instant is not free or unmetered. Every submission you upload counts toward your monthly limit, however it arrives.
  • Choosing a route does not lock the assignment type. The type locks once submissions exist.

Set up an assignment with Instant

The one form, section by section.

Set up an assignment with Guided

The steps, what each asks for, and what blocks Continue.

Last updated 19 September 2026

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