How to Release Scores in Google Forms
Scores are released from Settings under Release grades:
- Immediately after each submission respondents see their score as soon as they submit.
- Later, after manual review you grade first, then open Responses Individual, click , tick the respondents and click Send emails and release.
Releasing later only works if the form collects email addresses.
Turn the form into a quiz
A form has no scores until you make it a quiz.
- Open the form and click the Settings tab.
- Turn on Make this a quiz .
- The release and respondent options appear right under it. Set them as described below.
Make an answer key and set points
Google grades a question automatically only when it has an answer key.
- Go back to the Questions tab and click a question.
- Click Answer key at the bottom left of the question.
- Click the correct answer. For checkboxes, click every correct option.
- Type the points in the box at the top right, then click Done.
Multiple choice, checkboxes and dropdown questions grade themselves. Short answer questions do too, but only when the answer exactly matches one you listed, so add common spellings as extra correct answers. Paragraph questions always need grading by hand.
Want every new question worth the same? Set Default question point value in Settings. Add answer feedback lets you show a note, or a link to revision material, for right and wrong answers.
Release immediately or later
| Setting | What happens | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Immediately after each submission (the default) | Respondents click View score on the confirmation page and see their result straight away. | Practice quizzes, revision, fun quizzes, anything fully auto-graded. |
| Later, after manual review | Nobody sees a score until you release it. Google turns on Collect email addresses so it knows where to send results. | Tests with paragraph answers, exams, or when you want to check the grading first. |
Release scores after manual review
- Open the Responses tab and click Individual .
- Check each answer. To change a grade, type new points at the top right of the question. Click Add feedback to leave a comment.
- Click Save at the bottom, then use the arrows to move to the next respondent.
- Click at the top right of a response.
- Tick the people to email (tick them all to release everyone's scores at once), add an optional message, and click Send emails and release.
Each person gets an email with a View score link. To grade faster, open Question instead of Individual: it shows every answer to one question together, so you can grade a paragraph question for the whole class in one pass.
Choose what respondents see
Three toggles under Respondent settings decide what shows next to the score:
| Toggle | When on, respondents see |
|---|---|
| Missed questions | Which questions they got wrong. |
| Correct answers | The right answer to each question, once grades are released. |
| Point values | Their total and the points for each question. |
Turn off Correct answers if other people will take the same quiz later; otherwise the answer key gets shared around. Even with all three off, the score page still lists the questions and each respondent's own answers. Google has no option to show the total alone.
Send grades to Google Classroom
Classroom can pull quiz scores into its gradebook, but only for a quiz created from a Classroom Quiz assignment with grade importing turned on. Google's conditions:
- The quiz is the only attachment on the assignment (a form pasted as a link can't import grades).
- The form collects email addresses.
- Students are limited to one response and are in the same school domain as you.
Importing replaces any grades already in the assignment, and changing these settings after posting can break the import.
Release score missing or scores not released
| Problem | Likely cause and fix |
|---|---|
| There's no Release score button | Release grades is set to Immediately, so scores are already out. Switch to Later, after manual review if you want to hold them. |
| A response can't be released | It has no email address, usually because it came in before you turned on email collection. Google can only email people it has an address for. |
| Students say "Scores not released" | You haven't clicked Release score for them yet, or you released only some people. Open Individual, click Release score and tick the missing names. |
| Students see a score but not the correct answers | Correct answers is off under Respondent settings. Turn it on. |
| A score changed after you regraded | Changes save to the response. Tell students to reopen their View score link, since Google doesn't send a second email for a regrade. |
Where Google Forms quizzes stop
Google Forms quizzes are free and grade multiple choice answers well. Grades, timers and certificates are where they fall short.
| What you want | Google Forms | FormNX |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-grading with an answer key | Yes | Yes |
| Points per question | Yes | Yes |
| Grade bands (A, B, Pass, Fail) with a message | No, points only | Yes |
| Countdown timer | No, needs an add-on | Yes, on paid plans |
| Certificate PDF for passing students | No | Yes, on paid plans |
FormNX Quiz Mode scores each submission and shows a scorecard with the total, a grade such as "A: Excellent" or "Needs improvement", and per-question feedback, on the thank-you page and by email. You set the grade bands yourself.
Add a countdown timer for timed tests, or send each passing student a certificate from the PDF builder. The online quiz maker page lists the other quiz features, such as randomised questions and one attempt per person.
Build a graded quiz in FormNX
Add questions, mark the answers and set your grade bands. Every respondent gets a scorecard with their grade.
Make a quiz freeFree plan. No credit card required.
Comparing the two in more depth? See the Google Forms alternative page.
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