Final Grades

If you are a new instructor, we ask that you contact your S/PAC or the Undergraduate Coordinator (see contact list) before submitting your final grades. They can help you consider how to determine final grades.

Submission Due Dates

Final letter grades and documentation must be submitted on BearTracks within five working days after the final examination/assignment dates. For APT- and IPT-length courses, these dates can be found under Important Dates & Deadlines listed by program. For 13-week courses, these dates can be found at Exam Schedules. Marking examinations/assignments should be given first priority in order to expedite the submission of grades for approval. This is particularly important for final year students who will be convocating and are often depending on grade approval for early clearance letters to begin teaching. Instructors are not permitted to leave the vicinity, taking original examination papers with him or her for marking without permission from a Vice Dean.

Supporting Documentation

When instructors submit their final grades, they must attach a supporting document. The Faculty is required to keep these records (see section 6 of UAPPOL document). The supporting document must include the following information:

1. The breakdown of each student’s mark showing student raw scores for every assessment.

2. For each student: a final raw numeric score and a final letter grade.

3. The value of each assignment (what it was marked out of).

4. The percent weighting of all assignments (proportion of course grade).

5. The translation scale (example below) used to get from raw scores to final letter grades.

6. If the class mean is high/low (for 3rd year courses aim for a B, for 4th year courses aim for a B+), include a one-sentence explanation for the difference.

The Grading Template (link forces a copy of the file) can be used to organize the information. The video below shows how to organize grades in a simple spreadsheet. The information should be uploaded in an Excel file format (google sheets can be downloaded as *.xlsx). Grades missing any of the above information will not be approved and returned to the instructor for revision.

Do not trust the output from Canvas if you use this as your primary means of recording and calculating students’ grades. You must double-check, preferably with spreadsheet formulas, both the final raw numeric score and the translation to letter grades. You will also need to manually input the value, percent weighting, and translation scale -- Canvas output does not include this required information. As well, note that *.csv files do not retain formulas or snapshots of translation scales.

Uploading to BearTracks

Submission of grades involves submitting 2 pieces of information via electronic grade entry in order to receive approval for your grades:

1. The final letter grade for each student. These can be entered either by manually selecting a letter grade from a dropdown for each student or by uploading a *.csv file that is specifically formatted.

2. A copy of the supporting document as described above.

Grades are submitted through the Instructor Self-service in BearTracks. The university created the resource, Uploading Final Grades into BearTracks, for step-by-step instructions with images to help with electronic grade entry. Just note that instead of steps 8-14 (upload from Canvas or from a CSV file), you can select final grades individually for each student by clicking on the drop-down menu beside their name in the Roster Grade column.

Special Situations

Withdrawn Students: If you think that a student has withdrawn from a course, but the Roster Grade in BearTracks does not have a “W” and allows you to select a grade from the drop down menu – then the student has not withdrawn. If a student has withdrawn, BearTracks automatically has a "W" that cannot be changed. If you can select a grade, the student has not withdrawn. Do not assign them “IN” (a grade of incomplete). Calculate their final grade in your records by putting grades of 0 for any missing assignments. Upload this final letter grade plus a remark of “1”, as appropriate.

Missing Assignments: If you have students that have missing assignments, please see the "Grade of Incomplete" below. If you choose not to offer an extension, then put a grade of 0 for any missing assignments. If using Canvas, the software does not enter a grade of 0 -- this will need to be done manually and the final raw numeric score calculated. Upload the final letter grade plus a remark of "1."

Deferred Exams: Sometimes a student misses a final exam. Whether they have applied for a deferred exam or have had a deferred exam approved already, for grade submission put a grade of 0 in for the final exam. Upload the final letter grade plus a remark of "1." You may inform the student that this is a required step and that a change of grade will be submitted when the deferred exam is written and marked.

Translation Scale

NOTE: The conversion from raw numeric score to final letter grade is best represented through a translation scale in a table format.  The University's published equivalency table (see table on the left below) is not a translation scale. A sample translation scale is provided (see table on the right below). Each letter grade should have a corresponding range of percentage raw scores.

Please contact the Undergraduate Coordinator if you are having difficulties determining final grades.

In the 2024/2025 academic year, the University of Alberta increased to three final exam sittings in one day. When students are scheduled to write three final exams within four consecutive exam sittings, they are eligible to apply for one of those exams to be rescheduled. Details of this policy are contained within the UAPPOL Exam Rescheduling Procedure. If students have questions about the process, you can direct them to the webpage, Exam Rescheduling for Students.

Information for instructors is found on the webpage, Exam Rescheduling for Instructors. A rescheduled exam may have implications for submitting a class' final grades. Please follow these guidelines:

1. If a student writes the rescheduled exam and you have time to mark it before final grades are due (5 working days), please include the student's final exam score (and thus, final letter grade) with the rest of the class.

2. If a student writes the rescheduled exam after your final grades are due, do not hold up submission for the rest of the class. Instead, leave the final exam score blank in your spreadsheet and assign an IN (incomplete) grade following our Faculty's incomplete grade process. Once the student has written the exam, submit a change of grade.

The grade of “incomplete” (IN) is normally awarded when an undergraduate student is prevented by illness, domestic affliction, or other extreme circumstance from submitting an assignment by the end of term. When a grade of IN is awarded, the student is required to submit the assignment within 10 days after the end of the final examination period of the term for the course. At the request of the Undergraduate Coordinator, the student’s Associate Dean (Academic & Student Experience) may grant an extension of time to a maximum of four months after the end of the term. If the assignment is not submitted by the prescribed deadline, the Registrar will record a grade of “NC” or a grade of “F” plus a remark of “1”, as appropriate. Before finalizing the student’s grade, the Office of the Registrar and Student Awards will give 30 days written notice to the student’s Faculty and the offer of the course (Department, Faculty or School).

If you have a student for whom you may be looking at assigning a grade of IN, please contact the Undergraduate Coordinator for further assistance PRIOR to submitting your grades.

The Undergraduate Coordinator or Associate Dean (Indigenous) approves final grades and adjustments are occasionally made. Therefore, do not post, announce or email course grades. Encourage students to access their final grades via the web using the Grade Reporting Service. Grades are posted on BearTracks within hours of the grades being received and approved. 

Student grades are unofficial until they have been formally approved by the Undergraduate Coordinator or Associate Dean (Indigenous). Grade approvals are processed as a class; individual student grades cannot be approved separately. Students are to access their final grades via BearTracks. Do not post or email final letter grades. 

There are several instances where an instructor may need to submit a change of grade, after the grades for an entire class have been approved. To submit a change of grade request, email edacad@ualberta.ca and copy the Undergraduate Coordinator (janelle.mcfeetors@ualberta.ca). Please include the following information:

• Course code/number with section

• Course name

• Student name

• Student ID number (7-digit number; not CCID)

• Old letter grade

• New letter grade

• Rationale (this can be one-sentence; e.g.: the student wrote the deferred exam and the final grade has been recalculated)

A student advisor will pick up this request and process the change of grade.

Once you have submitted your grades, please ensure you have done the following:

1. Course Outline: Confirm that your course outline was submitted at the beginning of the term to: edcourol@ualberta.ca.

2. Final Exam and Final Examinations written by students should be turned in immediately. The exams are kept in the Faculty Administrative Hub (551 Education) South for a period of one year. Please contact the Faculty Course Administrator to arrange final exam drop off.

3. Exam Registry (GFC policy 52.8): Mid-Term Exam, Term, and Final Exams worth 30% or more of the course grade have to be submitted to the Registry. Sample questions are acceptable. Please mark “Exam Registry” on the front page of the exam. GFC policy stipulates that evaluative material shall be made available to the Students’ Union Exam Registry. The Registry makes these exams available to students.