How to Create Work To Mark
- Mar 5
- 3 min read
When you're ready to set up a new piece of work for your class, Mark Mate lets you create an assessment in just a few steps. An assessment is where you define what the work is, what you're looking for, and how you'd like each part to be graded.
Once it's set up, you'll be able to start marking your students' work against the objectives you've defined.
Getting to the Create Assessment Page
From your Dashboard, find the class you'd like to create work for and click on it. This will open your class page.
On your class page, you'll see a section listing any existing assessments. Click the "Create Assessment" button in the top right of this section.
You'll now be on the Create Assessment page. The page is split into two parts — your assessment details on the left, and your learning objectives on the right.
Filling in the Assessment Details
On the left-hand side, fill in the following:
Assessment Name — Give your assessment a clear name so you can easily find it later, for example "Quadratic Equations Test" or "Romeo and Juliet Essay".
Unit of Work (optional) — If this assessment belongs to a particular unit of work, you can select one from the dropdown. You can also create a new unit on the spot by typing a name and selecting the create option.
Marking Document (optional) — If you have a marking document (such as a mark scheme or success criteria), you can attach it here. This helps Mark Mate's AutoMark feature give more accurate feedback. If you've already uploaded a marking document, select it from the list. If not, you can upload a new one directly from this page.
Adding Learning Objectives
On the right-hand side of the page, you'll see the Learning Objectives section. This is where you define what students are being assessed on.
What are learning objectives?
Learning objectives are the individual skills or criteria you want to assess in a piece of work. Each objective you add becomes its own section of feedback when you mark a student's work. For example, if you create an essay assessment with three objectives — "Clear introduction", "Use of evidence", and "Spelling and grammar" — then when you mark each student, you'll write a separate piece of feedback for each of those three areas. This makes your feedback more structured and targeted, helping students understand exactly where they've done well and where they can improve.
How to add an objective:
Click the "Add Objective" button (or "Add First Objective" if you haven't added any yet). A panel will appear.
Objective Name — Enter a clear, measurable statement of what you're assessing, for example "Solve quadratic equations using the formula".
Description (optional) — Add any extra detail, context, or success criteria that will help when marking.
Grading Method — Choose how you'd like to evaluate this objective:
Feedback Only — You'll write comments without giving a score. Use this when you just want to give written feedback.
Grading Rubric — You'll mark against predefined achievement levels (e.g. Developing, Secure, Greater Depth). Select an existing rubric from the dropdown, or create a new one.
Points / Score — You'll give a numeric score out of a maximum you set (e.g. 15 out of 20).
Click "Add Objective" to save it.
You can add as many objectives as you need. Each one will appear as a numbered card on the page, showing its name and grading method.
Editing or removing objectives:
To edit an objective, hover over its card and click the pencil icon, or simply click on the card itself.
To remove an objective, hover over its card and click the bin icon. You'll be asked to confirm before it's deleted.
Creating the Assessment
Once you're happy with your assessment details and objectives, click the "Create Assessment" button at the bottom of the left-hand panel. Mark Mate will save everything and take you back to your class page, where you'll see your new assessment in the list ready for marking.
If you change your mind, click "Cancel" to go back without saving.
Comments