How Do I Apply a Missing Submission Policy in the Gradebook?

A missing submission policy automatically scores any assignment that’s past its due date and wasn’t submitted, so those grades count right away instead of sitting blank. This guide covers setting the policy up and how to catch up assignments manually if you do not have a missing submission policy in place.

Before You Start: Preparation Checklist

Before you change your Gradebook settings, decide on the following:

• What grade percentage to apply to missing work — 0% for a full zero, or another value if your policy is more forgiving.
• That this policy is best set up early in the term — it applies going forward, not retroactively to assignments already past due.
• That it only affects assignments whose due date has passed and that accept online submission.
• That without this policy, you’ll need to manually enter zeroes yourself for missing work to count against a grade.

Apply a Missing Submission Policy

1. In Course Navigation, click Grades.
2. Click the Settings (gear) icon in the Gradebook.
3. In the Late Policies tab, find the missing submission section.
4. Check Automatically apply grade for missing submissions.
5. Enter a value in the Grade percentage for missing submissions field — enter 0 for a full zero, or another percentage for a different policy.
6. Click Update to save your settings.

Manually Score Missing Assignments

If you haven’t set up the policy — or need to catch up an assignment that was already past due before you turned it on — score missing work by hand instead:

1. In Grades, find the column for the assignment with missing submissions.
2. Click the three-dot menu in that column’s header.
3. Select Set Default Grade.
4. Enter 0 (or your chosen grade) as the value.
5. Leave Overwrite already-entered grades unchecked, so scores you’ve already recorded aren’t touched.
6. Click Set Default Grade. Only the blank cells for that assignment are updated, and the Total column recalculates automatically.

Best Practices

• Communicate your missing submission policy to students in your Course Orientation and Syllabus.
• Turn the policy on at the start of the term — assignments already past due before you enable it will still need Set Default Grade to catch them up.
• Use 0% if missing work should count as fully unearned; use a higher percentage if your policy is more forgiving.
• Remember this only covers assignments with a passed due date that accept online submission — assignments without a due date, or that require paper or in-person submission, won’t be auto-scored.
• Pair this with a Late Submission policy so both missing and late work are handled automatically.
• If you haven’t enabled the policy yet, periodically check the Gradebook for blank cells past their due date — those blanks quietly inflate a student’s running grade until you score them.

Troubleshooting

Issue: A student’s grade looks higher than you expected.

Solution: Check for blank cells on assignments past their due date. Only scored work counts toward the Total, so missing assignments that are still blank aren’t dragging the grade down yet.

Issue: The policy didn’t apply to an older assignment.

Solution: The policy only affects assignments processed after you turn it on. Use Set Default Grade to manually apply zeroes to assignments that were already past due beforehand.

Issue: An assignment you expected to auto-score is still blank.

Solution: Confirm the assignment’s due date has passed and that it accepts online submission — assignments without a due date, or requiring in-person or paper submission, aren’t covered by the automatic policy.

Self-Check Questions

• Have I set a missing submission grade percentage — 0% or otherwise?
• Did I set this policy early enough that it covers assignments going forward?
• Do I understand that blank cells are excluded from the Total grade until they’re scored?
• If an older assignment needs to be caught up, do I know how to use Set Default Grade?
• Have I paired this with a Late Submission policy if I want both handled automatically?

Additional Resources

• Instructure Community: How Do I Apply a Missing Submission Policy in the Gradebook?
• Instructure Community: How Do I Apply a Late Submission Policy in the Gradebook?

Need Extra Support?

If a missing submission policy isn’t calculating the way you expect, reach out to the TLC.