Tutor LMS Assignments: The Complete Guide

Assignments let students show what they can do, not just what they can recall: a design, a report, a code exercise, a recorded presentation. In Tutor LMS, assignments come with the Tutor Assignments add-on in Tutor LMS Pro. This guide covers setup, settings and grading in Pro 4.1.3.

Step 1: Enable the add-on

Go to Tutor LMS > Addons and enable Tutor Assignments ("Assess student learning with assignments"). Assignments are stored as posts of type tutor_assignments inside topics.

Step 2: Add an assignment to a topic

Edit the course, open the Curriculum tab and add an Assignment inside a topic. Fill in:

• Assignment title (required) and content: the task, the expected output and how it will be assessed.
• Exercise Files: templates or materials students need.
• Deadline: a time limit for completing the assignment. With Set Deadline From Assignment Start Time, "each student will get their own deadline based on when they start the assignment".
• Total points and Minimum Pass Points.
• File Upload Limit: how many files a student can upload; 0 disables uploads (for text-only answers).
• Maximum File Size Limit.
• Allow Assignment Resubmission and Maximum Resubmission Attempts: how many times students can resubmit, even after the deadline.

With Content Drip, an assignment can also be made available after a number of days or from a date.

Site-wide assignment settings

Pro adds two settings:

• Assignment Permalink: the URL base for assignments.
• Final Grade Calculation: when several attempts are allowed, which attempt counts towards the final grade.

What students see

In the learning area, students read the task, download exercise files, write their answer, upload files and submit. They can see the status of each assignment: Not Started, In Progress, Pending (waiting for grading), Passed, Failed, or Overdue/Expired when the deadline has passed.

Grading

1. Instructors see submissions in their dashboard (Tutor LMS 4 lists assignments across courses with pass marks, deadlines and results in one view).
2. Open a submission, read the answer and download the files.
3. Enter the points and written feedback, then save.

The student sees the result and feedback. If resubmission is allowed, they can try again; previous attempts and their scores remain recorded.

Assignments and course completion

With the Course Completion Process set to Strict, students must complete required items, including assignments, before the course counts as complete. With the Gradebook add-on, assignment results feed into the student's overall grade.

Security of uploads

Students upload files to your server, so limit the number and size of files, and make sure your server does not execute uploaded files. See upload security for assignments.

Writing good assignments

• State the task, the deliverable and the format in the first lines.
• Share the grading criteria (a short rubric) in the content.
• Provide a template in the exercise files.
• Set realistic deadlines and allow one resubmission for learning.

Frequently asked questions

Are assignments available in the free version?

No. Assignments need Tutor LMS Pro.

Can students submit text without files?

Yes. Set the File Upload Limit to 0 and students answer in the text area.

Can assignments be graded automatically?

No. Assignments are reviewed by instructors. For automatic grading, use quiz questions.

Need a custom grading workflow, such as peer review or rubrics? See our Pro customization service.