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Troubleshooting

Coursework stuck awaiting evaluation

A student has submitted work in Alva Courses and cannot go further: lessons will not mark complete, quiz answers will not change, no certificate arrives. That is a hold waiting on you. There are two of them, they are independent, and clearing one does not clear the other.

1. Is the submission actually in the queue?

Open Evaluations in Alva Courses. Everything waiting is listed oldest first, with the student, the course, the attempt number, the submission date and a Pending evaluation badge. If it says "No submissions are waiting", there is no course-wide freeze — go to step 3. To be told when one arrives, turn on Evaluation Notifications in Settings.

2. Clear the course-wide freeze

  1. In the Evaluations queue, click the course name on the student's row to open Evaluate submission.
  2. Fill in Evaluation feedback, and tick Visible to student if the student should read it.
  3. Choose a Grade and Final score if you use them, then set Outcome to Pass or Revise and resubmit.
  4. Click Mark evaluation complete. The freeze lifts on the student's next request.

Both outcomes unfreeze the course. Pass completes it and releases the certificate; Revise and resubmit reopens it so the student can improve their work and submit a fresh attempt.

3. Clear a quiz held for review

Answers that are not multiple choice are graded by hand, and until you grade them the attempt sits as Under Review. That blocks the student only if the quiz has Block lesson completion until freeform responses are reviewed switched on. Grade them from the course's Review Responses button: on the Pending tab, open an answer, set Points Awarded, add Feedback to Student, and Save Grade.

A pending quiz will block a Pass

The two holds meet in one place. If you pass an evaluation while any quiz on that enrolment is still waiting to be reviewed, Alva Courses refuses and tells you to finish reviewing every submitted quiz first. Grade those answers, then pass. Revise and resubmit is not blocked this way.

If you turn evaluation off while work is pending

Clearing Require manual evaluation before completion on the course lifts the freeze for every pending student straight away — nothing to resubmit, nothing to sweep. Their course completes on the lessons they already finished and their certificate is released. The submission stays in the queue and you can still evaluate it; switching the setting back on re-applies the freeze.

What students see

Before submitting: a Submit for evaluation button warning that they cannot change lessons or quiz answers until the review is finished. While frozen: "Submitted for evaluation. Your instructor is reviewing your work.", and on any lesson they try to finish, "Your work has been submitted for review." Once you close the evaluation a grade appears on the course as "Grade: A" — but only if you ticked Visible to student.

See also

Turn on course evaluation, see the student's side in what students see when work is graded, or add a quiz.

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Last updated 2026-09-07