A submission failed to grade

Two badges, two problems. AI failed means something on our side hiccuped and Retry can win. Can’t grade means the file is the problem and only a new file fixes it. The row tells you which you have and offers the matching button.

Check these first

Read the badge and the reason line under it. Select the reason to see what usually causes it and what to try.
Use the button the row offers. That’s the fix.
Don’t delete and re-upload. It usually hits the same problem and loses that submission’s history.

The button the row offers

What you see	What it usually means	What to do
AI failed with Retry	A temporary failure: a timeout, a busy AI service, a download or conversion that didn’t finish	Select Retry. Most clear within a try or two. To retry many, tick the rows and select Retry grading
Can’t grade with Replace file	The file itself: “Couldn’t read the file”, “File too large”, “File is empty”, “Couldn’t play the video”, “File type not allowed”	Select Replace file and upload a clean one for that student
Can’t grade with Ask to resubmit	The same file problems, on work a student submitted	Select Ask to resubmit. The student gets an email; the button reads Resubmit asked
Can’t grade with Reconnect Google	”Google account disconnected”: the file lives in Drive and the connection expired	Select Reconnect Google and choose every permission. If the file still won’t open, it needs resubmitting
Can’t grade with Contact support	”No rubric to grade against”, “Assignment setup problem”, “Something went wrong on our side”, or a failure that kept repeating	Select Contact support. The chat opens with the details attached

It has been grading for a long time

Where you are	What you see	What to do
Instant setup	Setting up your assignment with “This is taking longer than usual.”	Select Refresh. Leaving the page is safe once setup has started. If it changes to We couldn’t finish setup, select Retry
Guided, after uploading a handout	Reading your assignment…	Short worksheets take a minute or two, long exams five or six. If nothing has changed after that, refresh the page. The wizard picks up where it was
Guided, the Answer keys step	Generating rubrics… on the Continue button	Wait for every question’s key to appear, then continue. Refresh if it hasn’t moved in a few minutes
The Submissions tab	A row still on AI grading long after the rest finished	Grading that stops responding is ended automatically, usually within half an hour. The row changes to AI failed with “Grading stopped responding”, and Retry runs it again
The rubric or questions editor	Save changes fails	Look for Review changes on the Ask GradingPal button: a proposal must be accepted or rejected first. Then fix any field ringed in red. If it still fails, contact support with the exact message

Don’t delete a stuck submission to start it again. Retry does that without losing its history.

Work that will never grade

If a submission can’t be fixed, open its menu and select Won’t grade — remove from list. It leaves the list without counting against you.

The wrong instinct

Deleting the row and uploading the file again. The same file meets the same problem, and you lose the record of what happened.

Still need help?

Open the Support tab on the edge of any GradingPal screen, or email support@gradingpal.com. To get a fast answer, include:

the class name and the assignment name
roughly when it happened
what you saw on screen, or the exact message

Students don’t have support chat. If you’re a student, ask your teacher.

Last updated 19 September 2026

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​Check these first

​The button the row offers

​It has been grading for a long time

​Work that will never grade

​The wrong instinct

​Still need help?

​Related tasks