According to academic regulations, assessment may be categorised as either coursework (see 2.1.2) or examination (see 2.1.3). All grades reflected in the VLE are coursework. Staff are strongly advised not to use the Grades tool in BS to enter examination grades.
You may want to make it clear to your students that coursework grades in the VLE are different from module grades, which are provisional in nature – for example, through an announcement at certain times of the semester.
FAQ: how can I release grades and feedback separately?
Although this is not an strict requirement according to academic regulations, it is the preference of many staff to release grades and feedback separately. There are two possible alternatives to allow for this using the Assignments and Grades tool in Brightspace.
Workaround 1 – Using ungraded assignments and entering grades manually in Grades tool.
Use Assignments to provide qualitative feedback and rubrics with no points (ungraded assignment)*. Store the grade in Grades separately and hide from view until ready to release.
* if using a rubric to calculate the grade within Assignments, it can be hidden from students
Video on Issuing feedback before grades (6:08)
Workaround 2 – Grading in Assignments (hidden from students) and use a ‘pending grade’ scheme in Grades tool.
Once your assignment deadline has passed, hide it from the students both in the Content and the Assignment tool. Use the Assignments tool to provide grades and feedback, publishing them to push the grades to the Grades tool. In Grades, use a 'Pending Grade' scheme in combination with restriction of the visibility of points. To show the points later, visit the grade item settings to tick the box to show points and change to an appropriate grade scheme (e.g. default). Set up letter grading through ‘Grade schemes’ and change the assignment grade item though Display Options > Student View section > tick ‘Override display options for this item’ > untick ‘Points grade’.