submit the assignment on time

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How to Submit Assignments on Time

Struggling to Submit Assignments on Time?

Picture this: after a long week, you’re sitting on the couch with a snack rewatching your favorite show. It’s around ten at night, the blanket’s warm, and you’re comfier than you’ve ever felt before. Right before you fall asleep, you get a nagging feeling you forgot something. You shoot up as that cold pit of dread hits – you have an essay due at midnight. And you haven’t even started writing. Worse, you don’t even know what to write about. If you’ve had this experience or a similar one, don’t worry – you’re not alone. Every semester, thousands of students struggle to submit assignments on time.

And that feeling, that cold pit of dread, still haunts some of us years after graduation. Notably, graduates report having nightmares of missing that important assignment.

Many don’t start working until the last second for a variety of reasons. Indeed, while the stereotype for a procrastinator is the lazy, uncaring college student, many have other responsibilities that take up a lot of time. And with the college mental health crisis being a hot topic in higher education, there’s a lot more to consider than simple laziness.

However, there are methods you can use to turn in work on time. From detailed planning to consistent schedules, students can build basic time management skills as they adjust to college life.

Why it Matters

While these skills are very important later in life, students may not realize how vital it is to turn in homework on time. They don’t see why it matters if they submit their essay at 11:59 pm or 2:30 am. As long as it’s in. But most college professors set some sort of penalty for late work and some can be devastating.

Indeed, the best student can turn in the highest quality essay and still receive a failing grade if it’s submitted late. And the strictest instructors don’t care if you have a valid reason. However,  late policies  vary from professor to professor. Some will give full points as long as you either submitted high-quality work or reached out to them ahead of time. Others won’t accept an essay if you turn it in even a minute after the deadline. In the middle, you’ll find instructors who deduct points based on how many days late you are.

Regardless, unless you find one of those kind professors, your grade will suffer. And you may find yourself repeating the class if your grade takes too many hits. Truly, it’s important to submit assignments on time.

4 Tips to Submit Assignments on Time

Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to just start submitting work on time. No one can wake up one day and have it all together. If it were that simple, we wouldn’t have so many students procrastinating their way through a degree. To succeed, you have to retrain your brain and build  time management skills .

Below we will go over some of the ways you learn how to submit assignments on time.

1. Create a Calendar

Once you start a semester or recognize your struggle to stay on schedule, you should create a calendar of all of the assignments and due dates. Your professor will either provide a schedule or you can find one in the  syllabus . Using these resources, plot all of your courses’ assignments in either a planning notebook or on your phone for the entire semester. You’ll likely need to update them as you go and due dates change. Whether you go traditional or digital should depend on what tool you’ll actually want to use.  

Either way, you’ll have a tool that can help you submit assignments on time.

Indeed, some people love to buy  notebooks and planners , but then never touch them. They tuck them away one day and never pick them back up. Or they don’t update them when due dates change. Indeed, there is no button to quickly change what you’ve written.

But, notably, we tend to remember things better once we’ve written them down. Thus, they can help improve your memory overall. And some students don’t like notifications or will casually snooze them as soon as they go off. For them, a planner works best to help them submit assignments on time.

Going Digital

Today, our phones come with calendars built-in,  apps  that allow you to create events and set reminders weeks in advance. Thus, even the basic ones are perfect for students. You should set up a handful of notifications to go off days and weeks before your due dates. And for those big assignments, you may want to set up reminders two to three weeks beforehand.

If the basic calendar apps aren’t your cup of tea, there are many specialty options designed for students. They’ll allow you to create custom schedules for each of your classes, color code assignments, and more.

In the end, calendars are helpful as they help you remember assignments. Digital ones send you regular customizable reminders. And planners allow you to visualize the work ahead. Whatever your preference, we recommend creating a calendar to help you submit assignments on time. You may even consider using both to ensure that your work gets done.

2. Create (and Stick to) a Schedule

Creating a schedule  is one of the best ways to stay on track in your courses. We’ve all gotten caught up with friends, our favorite show, or just a really good nap before and pushed our homework to the side. Indeed, most of us when left to our own devices will choose fun and relaxing options before doing schoolwork. And that’s okay – you deserve to rest, too. Naps and friends still should be a part of your weekly schedule, but you need to make sure you have time for everything.

Thus, we recommend setting a specific time to read, study, and write essays each week. If possible, it should be at the same time week after week. This scheduling will help you build a routine, which can help you submit assignments on time. Notably, building a routine makes it easier to sit down as you’ll feel that it’s time to work. Instead of thinking “I’ll do it later,” and then finding that you’re too exhausted later, you’ll get your work done

And it may actually help you see your friends more, as procrastination often costs us more free time than it saves. For example, you tell people you can’t come out as you have to do your essay, but, instead, you deep clean the oven. Your essay still needs to be written and you miss another possible night out tomorrow.

3. Ask for Help

A common reason students put assignments off is that they’re confused or frustrated by something. Maybe the rubric wasn’t clear or they don’t understand some of the content. Instead of asking for help, they’ll think “I’ll do it later.”

For some, later ends up being the night before it’s due. Students stay frustrated at the thought of the essay or worksheet and don’t want to touch it. And because the assignment needs extra work to get around the confusion, they end up spending hours on something that could have been finished in one. These students don’t submit assignments on time because they need help and don’t know how to ask for it.

Truly, people of all ages struggle with asking for help. They feel like a burden or want to do it all themselves. However, knowing when you need help is a sign of wisdom, not weakness. We can’t know or do everything ourselves.

If you’re falling behind because you’re confused,  email your professor , use online resources, ask a classmate, or try your college’s tutoring center.

4. Be Kind to Yourself

Finally, one way to help yourself submit assignments on time is to let yourself off the hook. Basically, don’t be hard on yourself when or if you fall behind.

Negative thinking often becomes circular thinking . We fall into a pit of bad thoughts and anger pointed at ourselves. And when we reach that point, it becomes harder and harder to get back on track. We think we should have been able to do this whole college thing with ease and we’re lesser for struggling. But it’s simply not true. Many of us will miss a deadline in our lives, whether at school or work or with another responsibility. It happens. As we said at the beginning of this article, there are a hundred different reasons students fall behind.

Many of us have jobs, some of us have families, and the student mental health crisis is real. Don’t be too hard on yourself for missing a deadline or two. Continue to reward yourself for your hard work and aim to do better.

Final Thoughts

Lakewood University is an accredited online school that offers a variety of degree and certificate programs. We have rolling enrollments and asynchronous courses. In other words, you don’t have to worry about missing a lecture or running late to class. If you plan on enrolling in college while working, Lakewood University offers the flexibility you need to earn your degree.

Don’t hesitate – reach out to our admissions department today to learn more !

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Get it done: The Importance of Completing Assignments on Time

Completing assignments on time is more than just meeting a requirement or fulfilling an academic obligation; it carries significant weight in the realm of education. Timely assignment completion plays a crucial role in ensuring academic success and fostering a positive learning environment. 

It requires planning, organization, and prioritization of tasks. By adhering to deadlines, students learn to allocate their time wisely, juggle multiple assignments, and balance their academic workload. These skills are not only valuable during their educational journey but also in future endeavors where time management plays a vital role.

Getting work done on time helps reduce stress and anxiety levels too. Procrastination and last-minute rushes can lead to heightened stress, negatively impacting the quality of work and overall well-being. When assignments are completed on time, students can approach their tasks with a clear mind, devote adequate attention to detail, and produce their best work.

Benefits of Timely Assignment Completion

Finishing assignments contributes to improved time management skills. By adhering to deadlines, students learn to plan and allocate their time effectively. They develop the ability to break down tasks into manageable parts, set priorities, and create realistic schedules.

Reduced stress

Procrastination and the pressure of looming deadlines can lead to heightened stress and feelings of overwhelm. However, when students complete assignments within the given timeframe, they experience a sense of accomplishment, alleviating stress and promoting a more positive mindset. Reduced stress levels allow students to focus better, maintain clarity of thought, and produce higher quality work.

Enhanced Learning

When assignments are submitted on time, students have the opportunity to receive timely feedback from instructors. This feedback allows for a deeper understanding of the subject matter, clarification of concepts, and the chance to address any misconceptions or gaps in knowledge. By engaging in this feedback loop, students can consolidate their learning, reinforce key concepts, and apply their newfound knowledge to future assignments and examinations.

Positive impression on instructors

Consistently meeting deadlines demonstrates professionalism, reliability, and respect for academic requirements. Instructors are more likely to view students who complete assignments on time as motivated and dedicated learners. This positive impression can lead to increased support, guidance, and opportunities for academic growth, such as participation in research projects, recommendation letters, or mentorship opportunities.

Time Management Strategies for Assignment Completion

Breaking down assignments into manageable tasks.

One effective strategy for managing assignments is to break them down into smaller, more manageable tasks. Rather than tackling the entire assignment at once, divide it into smaller components or steps. This approach helps prevent overwhelm and allows you to focus on one task at a time, making the overall assignment feel more achievable.

Creating a Schedule and Setting Milestones

Establishing a schedule and setting milestones is crucial for effective time management. Allocate specific time slots for working on your assignments and create a realistic timeline for completing each task. Setting milestones helps you track your progress and provides a sense of accomplishment as you reach each milestone. Additionally, incorporating regular breaks and allowing for flexibility within your schedule ensures that you maintain focus and avoid burnout.

Prioritizing Tasks Based on Importance and Deadline

Prioritization is a key aspect of time management when it comes to assignment completion. Evaluate the importance and urgency of each task, considering factors such as due dates, weightage, and their contribution to your overall grade. Prioritize tasks accordingly, focusing on those with closer deadlines or higher importance. 

Utilizing Tools and Techniques for Time Management

Various tools and techniques are available to aid in time management for assignment completion. Utilize digital or physical planners, calendars, or task management apps to organize your assignments, deadlines, and milestones. Consider using productivity techniques such as the Pomodoro Technique, which involves working in focused bursts followed by short breaks, to maximize productivity and maintain concentration.

Remember, finding a time management approach that suits your personal style and preferences is key. Experiment with different strategies and refine your approach as you learn what works best for you.

Tips for Meeting Assignment Deadlines

Setting realistic timeframes.

One of the most important tips for meeting assignment deadlines is to set realistic timeframes. Evaluate the scope and requirements of each assignment and allocate sufficient time for research, planning, writing, and revising.

Avoiding Distractions and Proactive Time Management

Distractions can significantly impact your ability to meet assignment deadlines. Create a conducive work environment by minimizing distractions such as social media notifications, email alerts, or noisy surroundings. Practice proactive time management techniques like time blocking, where you allocate specific periods for focused work and eliminate potential distractions during those times.

Seeking Clarification and Asking for Help

When faced with assignment tasks that seem unclear or confusing, seeking clarification is essential. Reach out to your instructors, teaching assistants, or classmates to clarify any doubts or uncertainties regarding the assignment requirements. By seeking clarification early on, you can avoid misunderstandings and ensure that you are on the right track.

Proofreading and Editing for Quality

To ensure that your assignments meet the required standards and are of high quality, allocate time for proofreading and editing. After completing the initial draft, take a break and then review your work with a fresh perspective. Look for errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and overall coherence. Make necessary revisions and edits to improve the clarity, organization, and flow of your assignment. Taking the time to proofread and edit ensures that you submit polished work that reflects your best efforts.

By implementing these tips for meeting assignment deadlines, you can enhance your productivity, minimize stress, and increase your chances of submitting high-quality work. Remember, effective time management and proactive planning are key to successfully meeting assignment deadlines and achieving academic success.

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10 Useful Tips for Students to Submit Assignments on Time

Team Desklib

Published: 2023-02-07

We all have been on the receiving side of the terror that comes with running late to turn in your assignment. As a student, one of the most critical skills you can develop is submitting your assignments on time. Late submissions can result in lost grades, missed opportunities, and added stress, making it essential for students to understand the importance of timely submissions.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll share a wealth of tips and strategies that can help you ensure timely submissions and help you stay on top of your coursework - 

1. Create a schedule

The first step in submitting assignments on time is to create a schedule. This can prove to be a useful step in the entire process. A schedule will help you keep track of your deadlines and plan your time accordingly. You can use a physical planner or a digital calendar, whichever works best for you. Make sure to include all of your assignments, exams, and other commitments in your schedule so that you have a clear understanding of how much time you have available.

2. Start timely

It is essential to start working on your assignments as early as possible. Waiting until the last minute to start your assignment can result in stress and decreased quality of work. By starting early, you’ll have enough time to review and refine your work, ensuring that you submit a high-quality assignment. Having said that, we understand and aren't too optimistic that balancing school life and homework can be a task. In that case, you can always start with the easy part so that it can create a sense of winning, which will eventually lead you to complete the entire assignment.

3. Break down tasks

Breaking down a large assignment into smaller tasks can make it seem more manageable and help you avoid procrastination. By setting deadlines for each of these tasks, you can keep yourself accountable and ensure that you’re making progress toward your end goal. Another way to go about it is to prioritize tasks based on their importance and urgency, making sure to complete the most critical tasks first.

One of the key benefits of breaking down tasks is increased productivity. When students are faced with a large and complex assignment, it can be easy to become overwhelmed and demotivated. However, by breaking the assignment down into smaller tasks, students can focus on one component at a time, making it easier to make progress and complete the assignment in a timely manner. This can help students to avoid procrastination and ensure that they are making progress toward their goals.

4. Use tools and resources

There are many tools and resources available to help students stay organized and on track. For example, you can use online citation generators to help you format your bibliography correctly or use productivity apps to stay focused and avoid distractions. Utilizing these tools and resources can save you time and help you submit your assignments on time. One such assignment help website is Desklib; here you can find study material and documents in abundance where as a student you can have access to help conveniently. 

5. Ask for help

Don’t hesitate to reach out to your teachers, tutors, or classmates if you need help. They can provide you with valuable feedback and insights that can improve your work and ensure that you’re on the right track. Furthermore, if you’re struggling with a particular aspect of an assignment, seeking help can save you time and prevent you from making costly mistakes.

Asking for help is a critical aspect of student success, especially when it comes to completing class assignments. Whether students are struggling to understand a complex concept or need assistance with a specific task, seeking help can provide them with the support they need to succeed. 

6. Manage your time effectively

Effective time management is necessary in order to turn in an assignment timely. When writing an assignment, make sure to allocate your time wisely and prioritize tasks based on their importance and urgency. This step can also help improve the quality of the final product. It is important to take regular breaks, review the work completed so far, and make any necessary revisions. By managing time effectively, it is possible to allocate sufficient time for these activities, ensuring that the final product is of the best possible quality.

7. Stay organized

Staying organized can also help to prioritize tasks and deadlines. When working on an assignment, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the many tasks and deadlines involved. However, by staying organized, it is possible to see the big picture and prioritize tasks in a way that ensures that everything is completed on time and to a high standard.

Make sure to keep all of your notes, materials, and other resources in one place so that you can easily access them when you need them. You can also use a filing system or an online storage solution to help you stay organized. 

8. Set realistic goals

It’s important to set realistic goals for yourself when submitting assignments. While it’s great to strive for excellence, setting unrealistic goals can result in added stress and decreased productivity. Make sure to set achievable goals and focus on making progress towards your goals rather than striving for perfection.

9. Eliminate distractions

Distractions can have a significant impact on your productivity and ability to complete a task at hand. While working, make sure to eliminate distractions by creating a conducive environment for studying like turning off your phone, or using a noise-canceling app. I know this might sound and feel a bit tough at first but trust me, it only gets better from hereon. This step will get the work done effectively and timely. 

10. Reward yourself 

In the end, do not forget to pat yourself on the back. After having completed the assignment, it is equally important to reward yourself for your hard work and achievements. 

Conclusion:

In conclusion, submitting your assignments on time is crucial for your academic success. We hope that we could help you a little by providing you with these tips. We hope that the above-given tips will help ensure that your work is completed to the best of your ability and submitted on time.

Remember, consistent effort and planning can go a long way in achieving your goals.

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Home — Essay Samples — Education — Homework — Importance of Completing Assignments on Time

Importance of Completing Assignments on Time

• Categories: Homework Punctuality

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Words: 609 |

Published: Aug 24, 2023

Words: 609 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Introduction: the value of punctuality in education, building a foundation of responsibility, fostering effective time management skills, promoting consistent learning and retention, preparing for future endeavors, enhancing academic performance and feedback, reducing stress and anxiety, cultivating a positive work ethic, conclusion: the pathway to holistic academic growth.

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How to stay ahead of deadlines on your academic assignments.

Completing your assignments and homework on time is instrumental to your final grades at school, because it shows that you can observe time and respect deadlines, and, as a student, it is important that you are able to complete your tasks on time.

1. Start Immediately

Immediately after you receive the assignment, start working on it. Starting immediately will help you stay focused throughout the assignment.

2. Plan Effectively

A good plan will enable you beat the deadline and submit your work on time. When planning how to handle the assignments, start with the most difficult ones or the most urgent ones. However, you need to be realistic about how you plan out your time.

3. Have a Quiet Study Area

Create a study area that is quiet and free from all the distractions.

If social media is likely to distract you, block the sites using blocking applications.

4. Get Help

You and your classmates can help each other complete assignments by working as a group. It helps you handle the tough areas of the assignment and complete it on time. Additionally, you can get help from your tutors on the challenging parts of the assignment.

5. Avoid Multitasking

Because it is easier to do one assignment at a time, it is important to start by planning your work well. Handling more than one assignment will lower your concentration and productivity. You will spend more time on the assignment than you had anticipated.

6. Remember to Take Breaks

Take breaks in between the assignments to reenergize yourself. Working continuously for a long time causes brain fatigue, which lowers your concentration and affects the quality of your work. Reward yourself during these breaks.

The key to completing your assignments early and submitting on time is knowing the importance of the assignment in your studies. Take the assignments seriously, plan well and give them your best. You will not have to worry about missing the submission deadline.

Daniel Reed

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JLV College Counseling

10 powerful tips to complete your homework on time.

   Posted on May 18, 2018 by Jessica Velasco

   Leave a Comment

Do you have homework that you need to work on but can’t seem to get it done? Maybe you are having difficulty balancing between schoolwork, studies and your duties at home. Many teachers believe homework is a necessary evil.

But I guess most students would disagree. Procrastination is the number one factor that causes us to keep us from doing our homework. The following tips will help you stay on track with your assignments and help you ensure that you submit them on time:

We often put off tasks that seem challenging or tedious at first glance. The hardest part of doing your homework is starting. To overcome this, just take out the assignment and place it on the study table.

It will push you one step closer to getting the work done.

2. Have a Dedicated Study Area

To get any job done, you need to have an area created just for handling that matter. It’s the number one reason why most freelancers can’t get much work done if they work on their beds. Been there, done that. The area should be organized and conducive for you to deal with your homework.

3. Keep Away from Distractions

In this digital age, we can quickly access vast information, but it comes with the challenge of increased distractions. From getting notifications from your social media accounts to constantly be checking your email, it takes your focus away from your studies. Use apps that encourage concentration, e.g., StayFocusd. Switch off your phone and attend to the assignment.

4. Time Management

Set aside time each week to work on your homework. It should be when you are alert. Plan to use this set time, each day, to get any pending assignments done. Remember to prioritize by starting with the tasks that are due the soonest.

5. Start with The Toughest Assignment

We all have preferences. Sometimes you can’t wait to start the assignment, and other time, the thought of it could make you sick. Get the hardest assignment out of the way, first. When done, you will realize that the subsequent tasks are much easier to handle.

6. Break It Down

There will be a time when an assignment you love feels like it’s too much to handle. This dread may keep you from searching for the information that is needed. If it’s an essay, start with the outline. Break down the report into manageable parts and work on each, step by step.

7. Take Breaks

Just as you do when studying, you need to re-energize your brain and body. For most people, their concentration span is 45 minutes at most. Schedule the time to work, including breaks.

Work on the assignment for 45 minutes and takes breaks of 10 minutes, after each interval. You can do whatever during the breaks.

8. Create a Reward System

Having a reward system will motivate you to keep doing what you are doing. After working for two hours with the regular breaks, you can take a longer  break. Or you could watch one more episode of your favorite show. The reward doesn’t have to be something huge; it could even be a piece of your favorite candy.

9. Don’t Multitask

Handle each task one at a time. Doing too much at the same time will lower your productivity. And thus, you will spend more time on a job and usually that time will be more than you would have needed.

10. Get Help

Work on the school work independently. When necessary, get assistance from tutors, peers, family members, friends, etc. When students hand in assignments that they feel good about, it increases their self-esteem and confidence.

You can also consider getting a study buddy. They keep you updated on any missed work, and could provide useful resources to help you in your studies.

Say no more to handing in your homework late or always finding it difficult to start on your assignments. Instead, adopt the tips outlined above.

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 Category: Guest Post , Study Tips      Tags: Emma Singerson , Guest Blog , Guest Post , Study Tips

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Turn in an assignment

This article is for students.

You turn in your work online in Classroom. Depending on the type of assignment and attachments, you’ll see Turn in or Mark as Done .

Any assignment turned in or marked done after the due date is recorded as late.

Important: 

• You can only submit an assignment before the due date.
• If you need to edit an assignment you submitted, unsubmit the assignment before the due date, make your changes, and resubmit.
• Attach one or more files to your assignment.
• Upload photos from a camera roll.
• Open and work on files you own in Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Drawings and then attach them to your assignment.

Turn in an Assignment Using Google Classroom (Web)

Go to classroom.google.com  and click Sign In.

Sign in with your Google Account. For example,  [email protected] or [email protected] .  Learn more .

• Select the attachment or enter the URL for a link and click Add .

• Click the file and enter your information.

The status of the assignment changes to Turned in .

Important : If you get an error message when you click Turn in , let your instructor know.

Turn in a quiz

• Click the form and answer the questions.
• Click Submit . If the form is the only work for the assignment, the status of the assignment changes to Turned in .
• If there's more work to do for the assignment, click Open assignment .

Turn in an assignment with an assigned doc

If your teacher attached a document with your name in the title, it’s your personal copy to review and edit. As you work, your teacher can review your progress before you click Turn in . 

• Click the image with your name to open the assigned file.
• Enter your work.
• On the document or in Classroom, click Turn in and confirm.

Important: If you get an error message when you click Turn in , let your instructor know.

Mark an assignment as done

Important: Any assignment turned in or marked done after the due date is recorded as late, even if you previously submitted the work before the due date.

Unsubmit an assignment

Want to make changes to an assignment that you already turned in? Just unsubmit the work, make the changes, and turn it in again.

Important: Any assignment turned in or marked done after the due date is marked late, even if you previously submitted the work before the due date. If you unsubmit an assignment, be sure to resubmit it before the due date.

• Click Unsubmit and confirm. Note : This assignment is now unsubmitted. Turn it in again before the due date.

Related articles

• See your work for a class
• How attachments are shared in Classroom
• Work with a doc assigned to you
• Google Docs Help Center
• Use a screen reader with Classroom on your computer

Was this helpful?

Need more help, try these next steps:.

Turn in an assignment in Microsoft Teams

Review and submit assignments

How to turn in an assignment

To turn in an assignment:

Navigate to the desired class team, then select Assignments . You can also use your search bar to search for an assignment by keyword.

Tip:  Select the Expansion icon (diagonal, double sided arrow) to work in full-screen mode.

If your educator specified a document for you to turn in, or if you have other files to attach to this assignment, select +Add work and upload your file. You can attach up to 10 resources to an assignment. 500mb is the maximum file size for a resource.  

Tip:  Work on Office files associated with this assignment right from here—no need to leave the app. Older files with .doc, .xls, and .ppt file extensions can only be edited in the desktop versions of those apps. You can copy content into a new file created in Teams to edit them again.

Select  Turn in  to submit an assignment before its deadline. This button will change depending on the status:

Turn in for group  if you're working on a group assignment. Only one member of the group needs to turn in the assignment.

Turn in again if you’re editing an assignment you’ve already turned in and need to submit work again.

Turn in late if you’re turning in your assignment after the due date, but your educator has allowed late turn-ins or asked for a revision.

Not turned in if the assignment is past due and your educator is no longer accepting turn-ins. You cannot turn in work.

Undo turn in if you decide you want to edit your assignment before the due date. You'll need to turn it in again after you make your edits.

After submitting your assignments, track your progress in the Grades tab to review points earned and educator feedback.

View assignments across classes

View assignment details

Additional resources for educators

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4 Tips for Completing Your Homework On Time

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• B.A., English, University of Michigan

Homework, a necessary evil according to many teachers, has a lot of students tied up in knots. Some students can never seem to get things turned in on time. In fact, many students do not even realize that they  have  homework until a friend from class texts them or they overhear someone in the halls talking about Ms. So-and-so's terrible, no-good, awful, horrifying worksheet for Chemistry that is due the next day. These five tips for completing your homework on time, however, should help you get that homework finished on time. 

Tip 1: Rely On a Planning System

Most of you by now are well acquainted with a homework planner. It has the dates, the school subjects you are taking, and a whole lot of blank space to write down your homework assignments. Use these planners if you have them. Writing with an actual pencil or pen may seem almost archaic what with technology virtually doing everything for us, but the kinesthetic movement of writing down an assignment into one of those little squares (Language Arts test tomorrow - STUDY TONIGHT), will actually help solidify that homework in your brain.

Plus, when you are packing up to go home at the end of the school day, all you have to do is open up that planner to see which books, folders, and binders need to go home with you so you will not miss out anything that you need to do that evening.

Some people  hate  using planners. They'd rather walk on a pile of crushed glass than actually write something down in a planner. That's quite all right. One student kept a wadded up piece of paper in his pocket where he'd scrawl his assignments. It worked for him, so it was fine. For those of you not keen on planners or crumpled up notes, your phone can come in really handy. Just download a productivity app and type your assignments in there. Or, keep track of all the work due in the notes section of your phone. Or, snap a picture of the homework board in each teacher's class before you head out into the hallway. Or, if you are really dead-set against anything planner-related, then just send yourself a text after each class with your homework assignments for the night.

No matter which planning system you prefer, use it. Check off each item once you get it in your backpack. Your brain can only process so much information at a time, so you absolutely must write your homework down if you plan to complete it on time. 

Tip 2: Prioritize Your Homework Assignments

All assignments are not created equal. It's strongly recommended you use a prioritizing system when you sit down at home with your homework. Try a system a little something like this:

• Examples: Studying for a major test coming up tomorrow. Finishing a major project due tomorrow. Writing an essay worth a LOT of points that is due tomorrow. 
• Examples:  Studying for a quiz coming up tomorrow. Completing a homework sheet that is due tomorrow. Reading a chapter that is due tomorrow. 
• Examples: Studying for a spelling test that will occur on Friday. Writing a blog and posting it on the class board by Friday. Finish a book upon which you will take a quiz on Friday.
• Examples: Reviewing chapters for the midterm exam. Working on an on-going project, research paper, or long assignment due at the end of the quarter. Completing a packet that isn't due for two weeks. 

Once you've prioritized the work you have to do, complete all the 1's first, then the 2's, moving down as you go. That way, if you find yourself pressed for time because Great-Grandma decided to stop over for family dinner and your mom insisted you spend the evening playing bridge with her despite the fact that you have hours of homework ahead of you, then you will not have missed anything vitally important to your grade. 

Tip 3: Get the Worst Assignment Over With First

So, maybe you absolutely hate writing essays (But, why, though when all you have to do is follow these essay tips? ) and you have a major essay staring you in the face that  must  be completed before tomorrow. You also have to study for a major math test, complete a social studies blog by Friday, study for the ACT  next month, and finish up your science worksheet from class. Your "1" assignments would be the essay and the math test. Your "2" assignment is the science worksheet, the "3" assignment is that blog, and the "4" assignment is studying for the ACT. 

Ordinarily, you would start with the science worksheet because you  love  science, but that would be a big mistake. Start with those "1" assignments and knock out that essay first. Why? Because you hate it. And completing the worst assignment first gets it off your mind, out of your homework cache, and makes everything that comes after it appears to be really, really easy. It will be an absolute  joy  to complete that science worksheet once you have written the essay. Why rob yourself of joy? 

Then, once you've completed the stuff due first, you can focus on putting in a little bit of time on the ACT. Easy peasy.

Tip 4: Take Planned Breaks

Some people believe that sitting down to complete homework means that you literally park your behind in a chair and you don't move it for the next four thousand hours or so. That is one of the worst study ideas in history. Your brain only has the capacity to stay focused for about 45 minutes (maybe even less for some of you) before it goes on the fritz and starts wanting to make you get up and dance the Roger Rabbit. So, schedule your study time with breaks actually built in . Work for 45 minutes, then take a 10-minute break to do whatever it is people your age like to do. Then, rinse and repeat. It looks a little something like this:

Homework Time:

• 45 minutes: Work on "1" assignments, starting with the absolute worst.
• 10 minutes: Get a snack, play Pokemon Go!, surf Instagram
• 45 minutes: Work on "1" assignments again. You know you didn't finish.
• 10 minutes: Do some jumping jacks, dance the Macarena, polish your nails.
• 45 minutes: Work on "2" assignments and maybe even finish with any 3s and 4s. Put everything in your backpack.

Completing your homework on time is a learned skill. It requires some discipline and not everyone is naturally disciplined. So, you have to practice checking that you have everything you need for homework when you are still at school, prioritizing your work, plunging into the assignments you loathe, and taking planned breaks. Isn't your grade worth it?

You bet it is. 

• Tips for Studying for a Midterm Exam
• How to Take Notes with the Cornell Note System
• 8 Study Tips To Prepare for a Test
• 7 Study Tips Smart Students Use
• What's Your Learning Language?
• Effective Reading Strategies
• How To Take Notes
• 10 Ways to Maximize Your Study Time
• 5 Tips for Studying for Final Exams in College
• 6 Steps for Self-Discipline When You Study
• How to Create a Rubric in 6 Steps
• How to Study for a Vocabulary Quiz
• 20 Creative Study Methods
• 7 Motivational Quotes to Memorize Before the Big Exam
• How to Use Multiple Intelligences to Study for a Test
• Learn About the Top 9 Places to Study

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Submit Assignments

You are viewing Ultra Course View content

Access your assignments

You can access assignments in the activity stream or in the calendar if your instructor added due dates.

If the due date has passed for an assignment, you’re alerted in the Important section of the activity stream.

More on late work

You can also find your assignments on the Course Content page. Your instructor may also organize assignments in folders and learning modules.

Your instructor may ask you to work on an assignment with a group.

More on group assignments

After you select an assignment, the Details & Information panel appears. View the due date, number of attempts allowed, the time limit if imposed, and possibly goals and a rubric for grading . Check if the due date has passed and if any submissions are or will be late.

Access code

Your instructor may require you to input a 6-digit access code to access the assignment. Instructors issue the access codes, but they might have another person, such as a proctor, deliver the codes. After you type the code, you can open the assignment. You can use the code to resume an assignment you saved. You don't need the code to view your grades and feedback posted by your instructor. If your instructor changes the code between attempts, you'll need to ask for it again.

Your instructor can also secure an assignment with the LockDown Browser . You need to provide the correct access code before the LockDown Browser is launched.

Start your attempt

If no time limit exists, you can view an assignment and you don't have to submit it . When you select Start attempt, you can view the assignment and start working on your submission. Not ready to submit? Select Save and close to save your work and close the assignment. You will be able to return to the assignment at a later date and resume your work. In this scenario, Select Continue attempt to resume working. Do not forget to Submit your work once you are ready to do so. 

If your instructor added a time limit, it appears alongside other assignment details on the Course Content page. You'll also see the time limit on the assignment's Details & Information panel and within the assignment, as you work.   

When you select Start attempt , you'll receive a pop-up window to start the timer before you can access the assignment. If you're not ready to start, select Cancel . After you start, the assignment auto-submits when time is up. If your instructor has enabled the Prohibit Late Submissions option, the assignment will be automatically submitted at the due date if you have not already submitted it yourself

More on time limits  

Continue working on your current attempt. If you have saved a draft, the Continue attempt button shows which attempt you are currently working on.

View your submissions. Once you have exhausted your attempts, select the View submissions button to review your completed submissions.  

After the due date has passed and you open an assignment, you’re alerted that your submission will be marked late. You can view the alert in the Details & Information panel, on the assignment page, and in the submit confirmation window. In the Details & Information panel, you can also see if any submissions are or will be late.

In the panel, you can select your submission in the Grading section and also see that you made a late submission.

If set up by your instructor, you may see zeros for work you haven't submitted after the due date passes. You can still submit attempts to update your grade. Your instructor determines grade penalties for late work.

More on zeros assigned to past due work

More on multiple attempts grades

Watch a video about How to Submit an assignment

The following narrated video provides a visual and auditory representation of some of the information included on this page. For a detailed description of what is portrayed in the video, open the video on YouTube , navigate to More actions , and select Open transcript .

Video: How to Submit an assignment in an Ultra Course

View attached files

Your instructor may attach files that you need to read or use to complete an assignment. Your instructor decides how files appear, such as inline or as attachments.

In most browsers, you can select where the files that you open in courses are downloaded. For example, in Chrome, navigate to Settings > Advanced > Downloads . You can select the location for file downloads and choose if you want the browser to ask each time. In Safari, you have the same capabilities. Navigate to Preferences > General > File download location . You can perform an internet search to learn about file download choices in other browsers.

For video and audio files that appear inline, select the title to open them in new windows. You have controls for play, pause, and volume control. For video files, you can view the video in full screen. You can also download the file.

For media files that appear as attachments, open the menu. Select Download Original File to download images, Word documents, PDFs, or slide presentations to your computer. Select Preview File to open the file on the course page, such as an image.

For image files that appear inline, you can select an image to view it separately.

Submit an assignment

Your instructor provides all the information and files you need to complete an assignment.

Be mindful of the time . If your instructor put a time limit on the assignment , you can keep track of how much time is left. A countdown appears at the top left of your screen and warns you as the time limit gets closer.

The timer keeps counting down when you save a draft or leave an attempt in progress.

Create your submission . You can drag and drop files from your computer directly onto the Submission box. You can also select the Submission box to display the WYSIWYG text editor. To upload a file you can either drag and drop files directly into the Submission box, or you can select the paperclip icon from the tool bar in the WSYWYG edi

Your answers will be auto saved two seconds after you’ve stopped typing. Essay question responses are saved every 10s while you’re typing and also again 2s after you’ve stopped typing. Every time an answer has been auto saved, you will see a Last saved notification at the bottom of the assessment.

If you lose your connection to the internet, you’ll receive a Connection lost warning. Do not refresh the page or use your browser back button, and check that you are connected to the internet.

The warning disappears after 20 seconds. If your connection has not been restored by that time, another warning will let you know that your most recent work wasn’t saved.  

Your work will auto save once the connection is restored and you will be notified.  

Auto saving is independent of your browser’s Undo action. When you use the Undo action, contents change according to your browser settings. Any changes because of an Undo action will auto save. 

To upload a file, you can either drag and drop it from your computer into the Submission box, or  select Attachment - represented by the paper clip icon- and browse for a file from your computer. A status window appears to show the progress of the file upload. Your assignment will be automatically saved after 2 seconds. At this point you'll also preview your file before submitting it.

If you decide to add files and there is a time limit, make sure they have finished uploading before the timer has expired. Otherwise, they won't be included in your submission.   

The preview happens automatically as part of the autosave action .

Text formatting and attachments. You can use the options in the editor to format the text and embed images and attach files . Visit the previous link to see an expanded view of the editor options and detailed instructions.

If you view the editor on a smaller screen, select the plus icon to view the menu of options. You'll find the option to attach a file to your assignment.

Only your instructor can view the content you add.

To use your keyboard to jump to the editor toolbar, press ALT + F10. On a Mac, press Fn + ALT + F10. Use the arrow keys to select an option, such as a numbered list.

Insert from Cloud Storage : You can instantly connect to multiple web apps where you store files, such as in OneDrive ® and Google Drive™. The files you add are copies. If you make a change to a file in cloud storage, you need to upload a new copy to your course. If your browser allows, media files you add from cloud storage display inline.

More on cloud storage

Add to the conversation . If your instructor enabled conversations, select the Open class conversation icon. Anyone can make a contribution to the assignment conversation, including your instructor.

More on conversations

Not ready to submit? Select Save and Close to save your work and continue later. Your text, comments, and files are saved on the page. When you return, you can resume working.

Submit your assignment . Finished? Select Submit when you're ready for your instructor to grade your work. When you submit, a panel appears with the date and time you made the submission. Select the View submission link at the bottom of the panel to review your submission.

The Submit button appears deactivated until you add content or answer at least one question.

Copy and save the unique submission confirmation number for your records. This confirmation confirms the assessment was successfully submitted into the system.

If your instructor allowed one attempt, you can't edit your work after you submit. If your instructor allowed multiple attempts and you submit an attempt past the due date, the attempt will be marked late. Any attempts you submit before the due date aren't marked late.

When you finish your assignment, you must select Submit . If you don't, your instructor won't receive your completed assignment.

Word count in the editor

As you type in the editor for Essay questions and the submission area, the word count appears below the editor. After you save, the word count no longer appears.

These items are included in the word count:

• Individual words
• Text in bulleted or numbered lists, but the bullets or numbers themselves aren't included
• Superscript and subscript text not part of another word

These items and formatting elements don't affect the word count:

• Images, videos, and file attachments
• Math formulas
• Blank spaces and lines
• Alternative text

When you use punctuation to attach words or numbers, the count is affected. For example, "We went...without you" is counted as three words. The words or numbers on either side of the punctuation are counted as one word.

Edit your content

After you add content, open the menu and select Edit to make changes or add more content.

You can edit settings for the files you've added. Select a file in the editor and then select the Edit Attachment icon in the row of editor options. You can add a Display Name and Alternative Text . Alternative text describes the image for people who use screen readers or visit web pages with images turned off.

You can also choose whether to insert the file as a link in the editor or to embed the file directly so it appears inline with other content you've added.

Reorder your text and files

Point to a text block or a file to access the Move icon. Press and drag the text block or file to a new location.

You can use your keyboard to move an item.

• Tab to an item's Move icon.
• Press Enter to activate move mode.
• Use the arrow keys to choose a location.
• Press Enter to drop the item in the new location.

View the rubric

If your instructor added a rubric for grading to an assignment, you can view it before you open the assignment and after you start the attempt. Select This item is graded with a rubric to view the rubric.

If you want, you can view the rubric alongside the assignment instructions. You can expand each rubric criterion to view the achievement levels and organize your efforts to meet the requirements of the graded work.

Anonymously graded assignments

When you open an assignment, you're informed if your submission is set to be graded anonymously:

This assessment will be graded anonymously. Don't include any personal information, such as your name.

Your instructor won't see your name during grading. Your instructor may choose to grade anonymously to eliminate bias. Your instructor can't enable anonymous grading for group assignments.

You shouldn't include any identifying information with your submission. Don't add your name to files you upload or use your name in any text you add.

You won’t see any indication of anonymous grading on your Grades page. Until your instructor posts grades, you'll see Not graded in the Grade column. If your instructor allowed multiple attempts, you'll also see Not graded for each attempt you've submitted.

Timed assignments

Your instructor may limit the amount of time you have to submit your assignment. If you have a time limit, it appears alongside other assignment details on the Course Content page. You'll also see the time limit on the assignment's Details & Information panel and within the assignment, as you work. You'll find a countdown at the top left corner of the screen that will let you know the remaining time in minutes and, during the last minute, the time you have left down to the last second.  

When you select Start attempt , you'll receive a pop-up window to start the timer before you can access the assignment. If you're not ready to start, select Cancel .

If you see View assessment instead of Start attempt , the assignment isn't timed. You don't have to submit an assignment with no time limit when you open it.

If your instructor allows you to submit multiple attempts, the time limit applies to each attempt.

The timer keeps running whether or not you're actively working on the assignment. If you save a draft or leave the assignment window, the countdown continues and your work is saved and submitted when time is up. When you select Save and Close to return to the assignment later, you're reminded that the timer will continue.

The timer appears at the bottom of the window to let you know how much time is left. Your work is saved and submitted automatically when time is up.

Time remaining notifications. When you take a timed assessment, you’ll receive notifications telling you how much time you have left to submit your work. The notifications will depend on how much time your instructor assigned for the assessment: 

• 10 minutes up to 1 hour: You’ll receive a single reminder when 10% of the time remains. For example, for an assessment with a ten-minute time limit, the notification will appear when there’s one minute left. 
• 1 hour or longer: You’ll receive a notification when 50% of the time remains and a second notification when 10% of the time remains. For example, for an assessment with a one-hour time limit, notifications will appear when 30 minutes remain and when there are 6 minutes left. 

You won’t see any time remaining notifications if: 

• Your assessment has a time limit below 10 minutes .
• You are a student with an unlimited time accommodation.

Respondus LockDown Browser

Student - secure assessment.

Your instructor can deliver assignments and tests securely. Secure assessments help promote academic integrity and honesty in student submissions. Your institution may use Respondus tools to administer secure assessments.

About Respondus

Respondus LockDown Browser prevents your access to any other materials, including internet browsers or other software, while you have an assessment open. You can’t refer to external information or copy material from these sources while you take the assessment. Within the LockDown Browser window, the assessment appears like any other Ultra assessment.

Respondus Monitor uses your webcam to prevent your access to physical materials during the assessment. Your instructor may also require you to enable your webcam or show your ID to verify that you're who you say you are.

Visit the Respondus Knowledgebase for help

What can't I do during a secure assessment?

If your instructor set up assessment security, you can't perform these actions:

• Open the assessment in a standard browser window
• Open other programs or browser windows
• Visit other websites
• Copy and paste
• Add files, links, or videos to your submission content
• Use certain keyboard shortcuts

Your instructor may allow you to use the Respondus iPad app. Otherwise, you need to submit a secure assessment with the desktop software.

Download the tools

You need to have Respondus LockDown Browser downloaded on your computer to open a secure assessment in Blackboard Learn. If you haven’t downloaded the tools and try to open the assessment, a message appears with links where to download. Select the link to get started.

Respondus Monitor is included in the LockDown Browser software. Your institution uses a unique LockDown Browser download link and application. Your instructor or your institution's help desk can provide you with the download URL.

Open a secure assessment

On the Course Content page, you can see the tools you need to open secure assessments and submit attempts. When you open a secure assessment, the Details & Information panel appears to provide more information about the grade, number of attempts, and other settings. You see which tools you need to continue.

Before you begin an attempt, be sure to download the required software . Reminder : If you haven’t downloaded the tools and try to open the assessment, a message appears with links where to download.

Select View assessment . LockDown Browser launches in a new window. If your instructor required Respondus Monitor, the startup sequence begins.

Add text and answer questions in the assessment just as you do in a standard browser. You can save drafts of your work and return at later points to continue work or submit. Reminder : You can't add files, links, or videos to the editor when you submit a secure assessment.

View an attempt

You'll also need Respondus LockDown Browser to view submitted attempts for secure assessments. After your instructor posts your grade, you can find it in multiple places without additional software.

To view the correct answers for your submission, you need Respondus LockDown Browser. Open your attempt and select Review results in Respondus LockDown Browser to launch the tool.

Offline Submissions (Student)

Offline submissions.

Your instructor can add assessments that don't require you to upload a submission.

Examples of offline work :

• Oral presentations
• Science fair projects
• Acting performances
• Artwork delivered in person
• Face-to-face team building exercises, panel discussions, and debates

You can view the assessment alongside other content on the Course Content page and on your global and course grades pages. When you access the assessment from these course areas, you're informed you can't submit work online. Your instructor can add instructions, files, a rubric, and goals to help you prepare for the offline work. You can also participate in the assessment's conversations if enabled.

For offline submissions, you can't submit multiple attempts and your instructor can't add a time limit.

When your instructor assigns a grade, you're notified in your activity stream.

On your Course Grades page, your grade appears with Submitted offline . If your instructor used a rubric to grade, the grade pill displays a rubric icon.

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Online Learning: How to Submit Assignments

Online learning for dummies.

Sign up for the Dummies Beta Program to try Dummies' newest way to learn.

Where did you store that file, attachments uploading papers and projects.

If there’s a secret to using this feature, it’s knowing how to upload and hitting the Submit button until you receive confirmation. In most systems, you look for a button labeled Add a File or Upload. This prompts you to browse your computer to find the file. (See why knowing where you stored it is important?) Usually, you click Open after you identify the file you want and then click Submit. The next screen you see should be a confirmation that the file has been uploaded. This figure shows what this looks like from the Student view in Canvas.

If your instructor doesn’t have this tool available, they may ask you to attach your work to an email. This process works the same as attaching photos to send to your dear cousin Ted. You find the Attachment icon (usually a paper clip), browse for the file, and upload. The uploading skill seems to be universal, whether you’re attaching a document to an email or a discussion board posting.

Some learning management systems connect to your Microsoft 365 or Google file structure, so you may be able to upload files from there.

Post, Emily! Submitting discussion posts

• Compose: Look for this button if you need to start a new discussion, one that isn’t attached to anyone else’s idea.
• Reply: Use this button when you want to respond to something another person wrote. Here’s a super tip: Copy and paste one or two lines from the original text (delete the rest) so that you can quote the first author and focus your comments.
• Post: After you have composed or replied, you must remember to hit Post or Submit. Otherwise, your great ideas don’t appear on the discussion board.

The Submit button on quizzes and tests

Tips for submitting any assignment

Whether you’re working with papers, projects, discussion posts, quizzes, or tests, consider the following general pointers: Submit early, have a backup plan, and keep a copy. Here’s why these are important:

• Submit early, when possible, in case of problems: What if you plan to submit your assignment at 11:56 p.m. on the night it’s due by midnight and the whole system crashes or your hard drive freezes? You don’t have a lot of time to remedy that situation. A safer bet is to submit your work during normal working hours, well before you need to. That way, if you encounter a problem, you’re more likely to contact a real-life tech support person who can assist you.
• Attach to email when technology fails: Still on the 11:56 p.m. track? When all else fails, send the same assignment as an attachment to an email to your instructor. Include a polite note explaining that the system wasn’t cooperating and that you wanted to be sure to get the assignment turned in, one way or another. This shows good problem-solving skills.
• Keep a copy: Always, always keep copies of your work for the term of the course. You never know when you might need them. It’s common for the system to freeze up when you’re trying to submit a great discussion post (always when you’ve written something worthy of a Pulitzer), so if you first compose in a word processor and then copy and paste to the discussion area, you’re safe in knowing that you have the original text. Should there be any question, you can find the file and resubmit it.

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How to Email Professor About Late Work

Last Updated: April 12, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Alexander Ruiz, M.Ed. and by wikiHow staff writer, Caroline Heiderscheit . Alexander Ruiz is an Educational Consultant and the Educational Director of Link Educational Institute, a tutoring business based in Claremont, California that provides customizable educational plans, subject and test prep tutoring, and college application consulting. With over a decade and a half of experience in the education industry, Alexander coaches students to increase their self-awareness and emotional intelligence while achieving skills and the goal of achieving skills and higher education. He holds a BA in Psychology from Florida International University and an MA in Education from Georgia Southern University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 172,231 times.

With deadlines, jobs, activities, and relationships to juggle, managing your schedule as a student can be tough. If you’ve realized you’re going to miss a deadline (we’ve all been there), you might be wondering how to email your professor for an extension, to apologize, or to limit any late penalties. Don't worry, we've got you covered. Below, we'll walk you through how to email your professor, plus we'll give you some sample emails to inspire you, too. To learn how to email your professor about late work, read on!

Example Emails to Professors for a Late Assignment

Every now and then, it’s okay to miss a deadline. When this happens, send an email immediately and say something along the lines of, “I apologize for turning in this assignment late. Know that I take my work seriously, and I'll do my best to avoid this in the future. I would greatly appreciate an extension on this paper if possible.”

Tips For Late Work Emails

• Don’t say: “I’m just genuinely so, so sorry. I can’t believe I turned this in late, and you have no idea how long I prepped for this assignment. I really am so sorry that I missed the deadline, and you should know that I will do my best in the future, even when I have tech issues, to not let this happen again.”
• Instead say: “I apologize for turning in this assignment late. Know that I take my work seriously and I’ll do my best to avoid this in the future.”

• Don’t say: “Message from a student in Psych 104,” “Need an extension,” or “Hello from Randy Bernard!”
• Instead say: “Extension Request for Psych104, Paper 2: Randy Bernard”

• Use a formal greeting. “Dear Professor James,” and “Professor James,” are perfect. “Hey,” and “Hi,” are too informal and should be avoided.
• Same goes for your signoff—choose a formal phrase. “Best,” and “Sincerely,” are great picks.
• If you’re asking your professor for something, be sure to ask, not demand. Instead of saying “I need” an extension, say that an extension would be extremely helpful to you.
• Remember to use “Please” and “Thank you," too!

• This could hurt your relationship and increase penalties on your assignment.
• So instead, say you're sorry: “I apologize for my late assignment. I know you're busy, and I don’t want to waste your time.”
• “I’m sorry for this late paper, especially because it communicates a lack of care and concern for my grades that I don't feel is accurate.”

• “If I had an extra 48 hours to complete this assignment, I’d be able to fully explore and structure my insights for this term paper.”
• “I would greatly appreciate an extension on this project. With a little more time, I could turn in my very best work and learn even more from this assignment."

• “Last night, my dog had a bar of chocolate without me realizing. I’ve spent the entire evening with her at the vet.”
• "To be entirely honest, I've been dealing with some mental health issues that are seriously affecting my schoolwork."
• If you can, avoid lying. If you're granted an extension and the truth comes out later on, you could face major consequences.

• Don’t say: “Honestly, it was out of my hands entirely. I’m a victim of circumstance, and that’s why my assignment is late.”
• Instead say: “It's true that I didn’t plan for this to happen. That being said, if I’d started earlier, this wouldn’t have been an issue. So I know, ultimately, this is my fault. I take full responsibility.”

• “This isn’t like me, and in the future, I promise to do better.”
• “I take my schoolwork very seriously. If it weren’t for my dog’s illness, I would have made getting this assignment in my top priority.”

Sample Emails

Why You Should Email Your Professor About Late Work

• Policies around extensions differ from school to school, but by writing an A+ email, you can only help your chances.
• Generally, professors only give you an extension under extenuating circumstances, like a major accident. They're going to be less inclined to extend an assignment if you had competing priorities, like work.
• Professors are people too, and they want to help! Especially if you don’t have a history of late work, when you plead your case, they may be more forgiving than you’d expect.

• Especially if you had a major, unforeseen factor pop up in the final moments before submitting your assignment, you may be able to explain and limit your punishment.

• By offering a respectful and honest apology for your late assignment, you can improve your relationship with your professor, earn their respect, and possibly limit your late assignment’s penalties.

Expert Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://dean.williams.edu/files/2010/09/Guide-to-Emailing-Professors-1.pdf
• ↑ https://advising.yalecollege.yale.edu/how-write-email-your-instructor
• ↑ https://studentaffairs.loyno.edu/health-counseling/university-counseling-center/news-ucc/emailing-your-professor-tips-tricks-health
• ↑ https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/how-to-ask-for-an-extension/
• ↑ https://www.makemyassignments.com/blog/how-to-complete-your-assignments-before-the-deadline/
• ↑ https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2019/09/23/tips-handling-missed-deadline-opinion

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4 Useful Tips for Students to Submit Assignments on Time

Assignments, a necessary evil according to many educators, have a lot of students tied up in knots. Many, if not most, students find it challenging to get things turned in on time. In fact, many of them don’t even realize they have homework to do and assignment submission. There can be a lot of reasons why students fail to complete and submit their tasks on time. For such students, we have a few useful tips to follow so they can submit their assignments on time. If you are interested in learning about them, continue reading.

1. Create a Time Table

At least one week before the official beginning of class, a course outline is posted in the course area. In this outline, assignments for every week is mentioned. What you should do is review the course outline before even your classes begin. Once you have done that, create a time table of studying and complete the assignments.

This way, you’ll know what to expect from a particular course. When it comes to assignments, you need to start preparing for it a few in advance. Starting it early will help you understand, write, and submit the task on time.

Today’s students are woefully short of time. Especially those who have chosen to study part-time or online and combine it with work. And here no timetable will help. To cope with the learning process and to pass all assignments on time, they often turn to specialists for  cheap paper writing . Thus, in order to improve the level of preparation and get a high score, you can use a specialized service.

2. Get the Worst Assignment Over With First

Maybe you’re one of those students who absolutely hate writing essays, but still have to write one because you are assigned this task, and it must be completed before tomorrow. You have to prepare for your math test and finish up your science worksheet. So, in such a situation, your first task would be writing an essay the number two will be math, and the last one will be science worksheet.

Typically, you would start with math or science because you love these subjects, but that would be a mistake. You need to start and finish the worst task first to get it off your mind. If you think you cannot write an essay in one day and have a submission date of tomorrow, then paper writing service can even do your paper in 3-6 hours without plagiarism .

3. Keep Distractions to Minimum

Yes, we know that putting away your phone and not watching TV might sound like too much. However, if your goal is to complete and submit your homework on time, you have to sacrifice your entertainment. It really doesn’t mean that you will not watch TV, listen to music, watch Netflix, or use the phone at all.

It just means you shouldn’t be spending hours on social media and other sorts of entertainment because otherwise, you will get distracted and not be able to give time to your studies.

4. Take a Few Breaks between Studies

Nobody can continuously study for hours because we all need breaks between subjects or to break up long stretches of studying. Active breaks and sometimes power naps are a great way to keep your energy up.

Now by that, we don’t mean you can take breaks for two hours, we know you want to but to complete your tasks on time, you’ll have to focus mainly on doing your homework. Stick to your break schedule of 10 minutes or so as this is enough to get you going

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I Forgot to Submit my Assignment: Here are 6 things to do

• by Joseph Kenas
• November 21, 2023

Forgetting to submit assignments is common in schools today due to many preoccupations affecting the students. In this guide, we will explain the options you have if you forget to submit your homework in order to avoid the effects of tardiness.

Sometimes, it is possible to just forget to hand in your homework or submit your essays and papers. Some schools have no leniency to entertain any lateness. However, some students have to try their best when they get late. Here is what to do.

What to Do If You Forgot to Submit Your Assignment

1. submit it anyway.

If you are done with the assignment, and you forgot to submit it, submitting it as soon as possible is the best option you have. The more you keep delaying with it, the more the chances of your assignment not being accepted increase.

Submitting it a few hours after the deadline can make the instructor understand any excuses for late assignments you give other than submitting it days after the deadline passed.

2. Alert the Professor of the Lateness

The best thing to do if you forget to submit your assignment is to alert the professor. He or she sets the deadline and requires you to follow it.

Alert the professor immediately after you realize you missed the deadline, and make sure you give reasons for the deadline miss.

Submitting an assignment without the consent of the professor can decrease the chances of the assignment getting accepted.

Contacting the professor through email is the best way of alerting the professor that you missed the deadline. The email should be short and straight to the point. Read my guide on this and see the late assignment email examples that I provided on that post.

Polite language should be used when writing the email. Use the full name of the professor and words such as “dear” at the beginning and a complimentary close at the end, such as “sincerely.”

3. Request an Extension

This varies from one institution to the other. One will always have to provide proper reasons as to why they need an extension.

In some schools, all you have to do is write to the professor explaining why you need an extension.

The discretion lies with the professor. In other institutions, you will have to write to the examination body to request an extension.

This body then analyses your reasons as to why you need the extension.

They decide whether you deserve it or not and then communicate with your professor on the decision made.

Before requesting an extension, apologize for your lateness. Try to show that you regret not being able to submit your paper on time. 

4. Giving Excuses

Whenever your assignment is late, you will have to give proper excuses as to why it is late. Good excuses can easily get you off the hook.

Unavoidable events and conditions such as illnesses can be good excuses as to why you forgot to submit your assignment.

Every excuse must be backed up with evidence to make it look true. Illness, for example, should be supported by doctor reports showing the days that you were attended to and the severity or type of illness that you had.

In most institutions, the examination body is tasked with determining whether the excuses are genuine or not. 

5. Take responsibility for the lateness

Deadlines are always established by professors for a reason. Professors hate it when students don’t take deadlines seriously because the older the students get, the more responsible they become.

Always take responsibility for missing the deadline and do your best to resolve the problem.

Avoid blame games. Teachers or your institution are not responsible for your lack of time or opportunity to beat deadlines. Always present yourself as a mature person, aware that studying is a major responsibility. 

6. Submit the Assignment Late

They say better late than never. Even if your assignment will be late, always put an effort to make sure that you complete and submit it. You can get lucky and get partial crediting for your work for submitting your assignment after a deadline.

This is better than getting a zero for not submitting the assignment just because you thought that your work will not be accepted.

Always remember you have nothing to lose and finish the assignment. Some professors can be understanding and even accept to mark your work. Don’t accept to fail just because you have not used your chance.

Reasons for Late Assignment Submissions

Mixing up the deadline date.

Students who did not get the deadline dates correctly are likely to submit their assignments late. This can work as a brilliant excuse sometimes if several students miss the deadline due to the same.

If you are the only student in your class who didn’t get the deadline correctly, you are likely to be punished. This can be avoided by being attentive when the instructor is giving deadlines.

Asking other students and the instructor about the deadline if you did not get it correctly can also help meet it. 

Family Emergencies

These also can lead to late assignment submissions. Family emergencies include all the unexpected events that affect the health and safety of your family.

These include accidents and other unavoidable events. Students whose parents are sick can lack enough time to concentrate on assignments while attending to their ill parents.

When the babysitter fails to show up, and the student has to look after his siblings, he or she may not get enough time to do assignments.

These reasons work as proper excuses in school, and one can get an extension to finish the assignment.

Power Outage

When you complete an assignment early, do not wait for the eve of the deadline or the deadline day to print it. Print it immediately after you are done doing it.

When there is no power to type and print the assignment when hardcopies are needed, then the student is likely to miss the deadline. This reason works as a good excuse for assignments with short deadlines. It may or not work in assignments with long deadlines.

Personal Illness

It is hard for students feeling unwell to finish their assignments before the deadline day. Illness is an unforeseen circumstance, and students can’t control it.

It is good to inform your professor that you are ill and won’t meet the deadline before the deadline is reached. Ensure that you provide evidence from the doctor when you do back to school as proof that you were sick.

Lost Your Glasses

Students who have eye problems can submit their assignments late if they lose their eyeglasses. They will not be able to conduct research and type the assignment. This is only applicable for short-term deadlines.

in long-term deadlines, a student is expected to find a solution to complete the assignment before the deadline. One can buy new glasses or pay for the assignment to be typed. 

Another Important Paper is Due 

A student can submit a paper late if there is another important paper that is due in the same time frame. In this case, the student has to write to the instructor and request a late submission. It is a valid reason but you must inform your instructor about the circumstances first. 

Job Interviews

If a student has a job interview that is related to the area of study they specialize in, he or she can submit an assignment late.

One may spend a lot of time preparing for the interview and lose concentration on the assignment in the process. Informing your instructor about this can get you permission for the submission of late work.

Effects of Late Assignment Submissions

Poor grades .

Many institutions are usually very serious when it comes to assignment deadlines.

Some institutions will mark the work, but a percentage of the total marks will be deducted.

Instructors are usually instructed not to accept late work. In this case, the students get a zero.

Students mostly fail in these assignments hence contributing to poor grades overall.

Lack of Fairness

Institutions that accept late assignments from students create a feeling of unfairness among the students.

Those students who hurried up and did the assignment limiting themselves to beat the deadline, will feel that they have been treated unfairly if some students get their deadlines extended. Not accepting late work creates a fairground for all the students in the class. 

Undermines Course Pacing

Late assignments will not help in cases where students need to cover a lot of work in very little time. Even a day or two missed in these circumstances is a big loss. Once a student gets late with the assignment, catching up becomes very hard.

Instructors are forced to set deadlines that all the students must adhere to. Students who can’t cope with course pacing because of submitting late assignments are likely to be kicked out of class. 

Promotes Laziness

When students are allowed to submit their assignments late, the sense and responsibility of finishing assignments on time are reduced.

Students will submit assignments whenever they want to know that they can give excuses for late homework submission and get their assignments accepted by the instructor.

Schools should always strive to prepare students for the outside world. When schools train students that submitting late assignments is right, they are not preparing them well for the real world.

There are situations in real life, such as job interviews, that cannot be postponed. Therefore, to instill this value, it makes sense to penalize students for late homework so that they can learn.

Even in higher learning levels such as master’s and Ph.D. programs, late submissions are not allowed because professors at this level are very busy and try to avoid inconveniences as much as possible.

Joseph is a freelance journalist and a part-time writer with a particular interest in the gig economy. He writes about schooling, college life, and changing trends in education. When not writing, Joseph is hiking or playing chess.

How to manage the 11:59 PM Deadline Comfortably

If you have ever had trouble submitting an assignment or received a penalty for minutes late submission, you understand how strict some professors can be. From losing an entire grade to losing a specific percentage of the grade or re-sitting a paper submitting an assignment (essay, discussion post, online quiz, homework, or research paper) can affect you as a student.

Late assignment submissions, albeit controversial, aim to make students learn the aspect of time management. Unfortunately, the immutable deadlines are sometimes biting lazy students, pushing them to begin working early and avoid even 1-minute late submissions.

Even though some educators might offer a grace period for a minimal time, some will apply a sliding scale late policy where they deduct a percentage of the score for each hour or day you are late with your assignments.

From the perspective of the professors, such policies ensure fairness for students who submitted their assignments earlier. We have tips and tricks to help you understand and manage minute late submissions to avoid being on the wrong side of the zero-tolerance late policy of your university.

What causes students to submit assignments late?

Different reasons can cause you to submit assignments late. We are addressing them here so that you are in the know and so that you can devise various strategies to avoid the associated late submission penalties.

Here are the top nine reasons students submit assignments late (you can use some when requesting a late submission from your professor or instructor):

1. Procrastination

Students sometimes find themselves missing submission due dates due to procrastination. Sometimes, procrastination can occur with the rigorous nature of studies and the fact that some students work and study. Furthermore, life outside of class, such as parties, festivals, movies, and meeting with friends, leaves one with little time to complete assignments on time. Having commitments and deciding to complete an assignment later can cause you actually to miss the deadline. Common ground is if you later learn that the assignment is demanding or complex or do not know what to write or hate writing essays.

2. Waiting for a response from a professor

Another reason students find themselves unable to meet submission deadlines is due to the late response from a professor. In most cases, especially when assignments are complicated, you can seek clarifications from your lecturer or professor. However, if your professor responds to your email late, the chances are that you will also submit the assignment late. We will see shortly how to manage such situations and avoid submitting your assignments late.

3. Lack of proper planning and time management

This happens mostly for working students. They often find themselves having too much on their schedule that they probably forget to complete and submit a school assignment early. For instance, if you are an undergraduate or MBA student working and studying, having assignments that require time at work can hamper your completion date for the assignments from school.

4. Writer's Block

Sometimes it is not about did I get the question right? or inadequate time management. Even with the right skills, time, and resources, you might still feel lazy to complete an assignment. With the fast-paced world around us, we get fatigued faster. Suppose you are one of those that like completing assignments last-minute; writers' block has probably messed you up before. We have tips to address this, as we shall see shortly.

5. Lack of knowledge about the assignment

Finally, lacking the knowledge to complete an assignment can make you submit it late. Sometimes, you will end up submitting a late assignment that is incomplete : two wrongs at a go. In addition, many classmates might not be willing to assist you with understanding the assignment.

6. Using shitty assignment help websites

Today, almost seven out of ten students use an assignment writing service. However, without choosing a reliable and legit service, you might run into problems with your submission deadlines. Mainly, this occurs due to the late submission of assignments by writers. Rogue writers are everywhere online, from Twitter to Reddit and now Facebook; they will approach you with sweet deals, and once you assign them to your homework and pay them to do it, they disappear on the internet. Putting too much trust in another person without a legit website to write your essay or assignment can mess you. We had a case where a client wanted to use our write my late assignment ASAP service because a previous writer from Twitter had held their paper ransom and requested more payment or expose them to their school and professor. Well, you can manage this by working with our custom assignment help website.

7. You just hate writing assignments

The assignment writing process is tedious and rigorous. For instance, when writing an essay, you begin by researching, then drafting an outline, and going all the way to proofreading and editing. As a result, if you hate writing homework, you might be slow and find yourself submitting an assignment late.

8. Unforeseeable Circumstances

Deadline violation often occurs when you face nasty circumstances that you cannot foresee as a human being. These circumstances include disasters, sickness, death, accidents, or injuries. Professors have a soft spot for accepting minutes late submissions if you face these issues, so you need not worry as long as you have proof. Sometimes it is your laptop that got either rained on, attacked by a virus, or stolen. Whatever happens to your computer or laptop, you probably do not have time to complete the assignment or begin doing it over and beat the deadline unless you are very fast.

9. Poor Internet

We have cases when you travel for the weekend, visit with others (friends or family), which can cause you to either forget submitting or, because you are in a hurry, to save the assignment on your laptop or phone and submit it later.

If you run into slow internet issues or poor coverage, you might find yourself turning in an assignment later than the 11:59 PM deadline or the deadline set by your professor.

Tips and Tricks to use to avoid minute-late submissions

To avoid submitting assignments after the deadline, missing full marks due to lateness, or earning a bad reputation, it is necessary to take precautions. Here are some tips and tricks that you can use to avoid turning in assignments later than the due date and time.

Do your assignment early enough

Even with one-minute lateness, submitting an assignment later incurs some loss as a student. Expressly, professors and lecturers set the dates on Canvas and Turnitin and set an automatic deduction once your work is late.

If you know that your deadline for a ten or 5-page paper is 11:59 Sunday or Wednesday, and you have been assigned the paper 3-5 days before the deadline, the best thing is to begin earlier.

Students who draft a research paper or essay plan often find it easier to complete assignments within the deadlines than those who do not. As soon as you are assigned a paper, make it a point to clarify anything unclear with the professor. This leaves you plenty of time to research, decide on a topic, write the first draft, edit, and submit the paper on time.

Write the fast draft early enough, then edit later as the deadline nears. Sometimes, submitting an assignment too early might be judged by the professor as a result of rushing the paper. Therefore, before you hit the submit button, ensure that everything is addressed per the instructions and the rubric.

Set your deadline early before the actual submission deadline

Apart from just beginning the paper early, another excellent strategy is to set your personal deadline for completing the paper early than the actual deadline. If an assignment is due in 5 days, set your deadline to 3 or 4 days. You can use the rest of the deadline to do other stuff or equally edit the paper thoroughly.

There is some deep joy and peace that comes with completing a paper. However, you can only experience the moment when you complete the paper.

Do not procrastinate editing and submitting the final draft.

Sometimes, students write the papers early enough and procrastinate editing and proofreading. Nevertheless, doing so might land you in trouble because you might experience unforeseeable circumstances. For instance, your laptop might crash, or you can fall too ill to complete the paper. However, if you have an unrefined paper, you can hire a proofreader or editor to paraphrase, edit, and polish your essay. It is, however, a great practice to completely do away with a paper before committing your time elsewhere. Instead, plan your time, have adequate rest, and allocate the time you have the highest concentration to completing your paper.

Have an accountability partner, group, or study buddy

Another great way to ensure that you complete assignments before deadlines entails having an accountability partner, study group, or a study buddy.

An accountability partner is an effective strategy that helps you set and achieve goals. It also helps you maintain the zeal to complete assignments, read course materials, and hone your writing/reading/research skills.

With a study group, you will have members who share interests. They will likely remind you about your unsubmitted assignments and keep you in check. They can also be helpful with research and sharing insights on how to approach an assignment.

Finally, a study buddy (a friend, classmate, or roommate) can help you maintain the morale of reading, studying, and completing assignments.

Having either of the three can help you begin working on your assignments early enough to avoid the last-minute rush.

Email your professor for a deadline extension

If you are very sure you have done your best to complete a paper, but due to unavoidable circumstances, you cannot complete the paper on time, you can request your professor to accept a late submission. Note that with such a request, you must have proof. For instance, if your excuse is being sick or a family member died or fell ill, you should produce credible hospital evidence. In most cases, if the email is not answered soon enough, proceed to call your professor.

If you have already submitted an assignment later than the set deadline, email your professor to convince them not to hit you with the 10-25% deadline violation penalty. You should apologize and then explain the reasons for submitting the assignment late. Also, suggest how being rated poorly might affect your GPA and convince your professor that you will never submit a paper late again.

Play around with Turnitin Settings

If you want to make your professor not penalize you for late submission, you can tweak some settings on the Turnitin website. First, you can modify the assignment link from the control panel. First, select the Course Tools, then pick the assignment whose link you wish to edit. Next, select the link to the assignment and then select Edit Assignment. You can then comfortably change the deadline so that your submission deadline is within the deadline.

Another common trick you can use is submitting a corrupted Word or PDF file of the assignment. In this case, since your professor cannot open the file, they will write to you requesting the original uncorrupted file. You can use the time in between to complete your paper and wait for their call or email request.

Finally, you can also find a way to edit the submitted assignment by editing the content folder. In the case of Turnitin, you will find the link to the assignment and click on the Action Link tab to make the change.

Since these are not guaranteed tips to work because of ongoing updates, you should contact your professor because they are a person who has emotions. Alternatively, complete your papers early enough.

Work with a last-minute assignment service.

The ultimate trick to avoid minutes-late submission is hiring a fast essay writing service to write your last-minute paper. Gradecrest has experts who can write your last-minute essay faster. Our writers are experienced enough to write two pages within an hour or ten pages in 6-8 hours. Therefore, if you realize that the deadline is very close and you cannot complete your assignment, you can use our affordable academic writing services.

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Understanding the 11:59 PM assignment submission deadline

11:59 PM, mainly on Sunday nights, is a dreaded time by many students. It is when all the discussion posts, assignments, essays, and most homework are due.

For Canvas, SafeAssign, and Turnitin, it is common to see the submission deadline set at 11:59 PM- a minute to midnight. If you do not take the precautions, we have highlighted above, the chances are that your 1-minute lateness might cost you a grade.

Submitting assignments at 11:59 means, you can submit your assignment at 11:59:59 PM. After the deadline, Turnitin, SafeAssign, or Canva automatically marks the submission as late.

Such lateness could be why you miss an A or B and get a poor grade for an otherwise easy paper. Therefore, complete your assignments on time, use writing services, plan your time, and consult with your instructor early enough to avoid late submission penalties.

You might incur risks when you submit an assignment later than 11:59 PM. First, you will face the consequences of being late. One of the consequences includes being undermarked. You can as well be requested to take a re-sit of the paper or lose the marks altogether. Either way, your final grade will be impacted by otherwise avoidable circumstances.

Note that 12-, 24-, or 1-hour late submissions are treated the same as 1-minute late submissions in terms of consequences.

Another risk of submitting an assignment late is facing technical hitches with the system. For example, your internet might act up, and also, because everyone is rushing to submit at the last minute, the chances are that the system gets overloaded and slow.

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We have looked at some of the best strategies to avoid submitting your assignments late. However, if you are a frequent late assignment submitter, these tips and tricks can work well in your favor.

Related Reading: 

• What is the acceptable Turnitin similarity percentage for essays and assignments?

Above all, you can always spare some cash to hire an assignment writer to assist if you have little time on your hands. However, if you have adequate time, avoid procrastination and writer's block by planning early, setting your own deadlines, and consulting with your instructor early enough.

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Knowing that most students submit assignments right around the deadline, is it advisable not to set deadline that is very late at night?

Like many on this site, I use a Moodle-type online Content Management System to give assignments to my students, and receive the finished work for grading. This is in a traditional context where the students are physically present in the classroom, and the online part is seen as a simple tool to be used in addition to the classic paper-based route. Students' first class for the day usually begins at 8 a.m.

For the last few years, I put the deadline for assignment acceptance at midnight, with plenty of time (2-3 weeks) to do the work, so each student can handle his/her workload as they wish. These are young adults aged 18-25, and are in theory very much responsible for their acts. Observation gives us actual hand-in times with approximately the following distribution:

• 1-2 days before deadline: 5%
• 3-24 hours before: 10%
• 1-2 hours: 10%
• less than 1 hour: 65%
• emails in distress after the deadline has expired saying they have encountered a computer glitch or some other excuse: 10%

Which I guess is about par for the course. :-(

So it is clear that while in theory these students are responsible young adults, in practice they tend to plan ahead in a less than stellar way. The impression that is perceived is that the online nature of the submission system makes students take slightly more liberties with deadlines than when assignments had to be handed in, in a face-to-face situation - although it is clear that even then there will always be a certain percentage of people with difficulties respecting deadlines.

OK, here is the question: without getting into considerations on whether students should plan better (and possible ways in which I and other teachers could help them do so), would changing deadline times from midnight to, for example, 10 p.m. be a good move from the standpoint of their getting enough sleep (moral considerations welcome) and actually attending class at the beginning of the next day? Do I get to patent this Great Idea?

No, that last bit was a joke. ;-)

Reactions from people who are not actually teachers, but have experienced this context as a student are also welcome.

I have ended up accepting the answer by Superbest below, basically because I liked his discussion of alternative possibilities. This is a bit subjective, since many other answers are also of very high quality IMHO - and I would certainly encourage the reader to peruse all the answers given here, and the varying points of view expressed (also in comments). Much appreciated.

• online-learning

• 28 I had to take a take-home exam when I was 25. There was no Internet (this was almost 40 years ago). I had to run 3 miles (about 5 km) trying to meet the 8 a.m. deadline. Yes, I was a responsible adult (I swear). No matter what your schedule is, your observed distribution would look about the same. So, I would suggest move the deadline to 8 p.m. so the students would have plenty of time to get on social media or play games after they submit their assignments.;-) –  Nobody Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 8:27
• 19 Considering the concept of deadlines itself, I really like the idea described elsewhere on this site (or on Math Educators) a while ago to slowly worsen the grade of late submissions until they automatically fail. So you can still get a decent grade for submitting 10 minutes late but not for submitting 48 hours late (depending on the total length of the assignment, of course). Also, I think that computer glitches are today’s “the dog ate my homework” and should not be a valid excuse. –  Wrzlprmft ♦ Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 12:41
• 71 One trivial advantage of 10pm over midnight - no danger of someone getting confused over which day is meant! –  Andrew is gone Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 16:05
• 50 As a student, I am usually part of that 65% who turn their hw in last minute, but it's not because it took that long, it's just that I am usually paranoid about handing in something earlier than I have to and then realizing that I made a mistake or could have done better. So, I tend to turn assignments in last minute, although I finished them much earlier. –  dramzy Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 17:19
• 22 As a somewhat recent student, one reason why I often submitted close to the midnight deadline was that evenings and late nights were often when I had the time to work. If a deadline were set to be earlier in the day when I had classes and activities to attend, then I would be much more likely to submit the night before with plenty of time to spare. Then again, that might mean I would just stay up until 3 instead of 12 :) –  David K Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 18:46

18 Answers 18

While I admire your concern for the students, I feel that ultimately your endeavor is quixotic.

To be sure, I see nothing wrong with making your deadline be at 10 pm. It won't change anything, so you might as well. But I wouldn't expect it to have any notable effect, and I would be wary of the slippery slope that leads to you blaming yourself for the students' errors.

The reason I am so pessimistic is that I don't think procrastination and irregular sleep are caused by deadline timing (unless the work demanded is truly overwhelming, but in college it never is ). They are caused by poor personal discipline and bad habits acquired over many years leading up to the present. Regardless of what you do, the procrastinators will still invent ways to procrastinate, because the problem is rooted in their own behavior, not yours. You therefore cannot solve the problem by changing your behavior.

For instance, if you have the deadline at 10 pm, the procrastinator will drop everything that evening to work on your assignment and submit it around 10. Then he will still stay up doing the things he just postponed for the sake of your assignment. Because, recall, this person is not selectively procrastinating on your course only - they have also other courses that have deadlines. Even if all courses had the same early deadline policy, the students would still have their own errands with self-imposed deadlines at later times that they stay up for.

By the same logic that makes you consider 10 pm, we can explore other alternatives:

• 5 pm is a fair time, since it would presumably encourage students to concentrate their last ditch effort in the typical working day. However, there will also be students who have classes right up to the deadline that day, and if they procrastinate (as some certainly shall) they will now skip class to do the assignment, which is arguably worse than staying up!
• Noon is another time that sounds like a good idea. Being too early, you might expect that it will make students feel they have no choice but to start working on it early since the morning isn't nearly enough time, and if they can't finish it the night before they can safely go to bed, get some sleep, and finish in the morning. But realistically, the procrastinators who stay up late and hand it in at midnight now will just start working at 1 am and stay up all night to finish it.
• 9 am can be argued for as a realistic time - it's not like you will start grading at midnight, so there isn't really a point in requiring the assignment by midnight - instead of having the students rush their submission to a deadline just so it could sit in your mailbox for several hours, you could tell them to that you will start grading at 9 am and they should have it done by then. This makes the deadline less arbitrary, since there is now a clear logic to being required to meet it (ie. you will be delayed if they don't do their part). But of course you will again have the same problem of students staying up all night because they procrastinated.

For what it's worth, I think the midnight deadline came about as codification of an unspoken tradition. Often deadlines are given as days, without time - with this, there is always much controversy about what exactly counts as meeting an August 6 deadline: Does it have to be done at the beginning of Aug 6? Does it have to be before the instructor leaves the office? Does it have to be before the end of the day, ie. before you go to sleep? Well, what if you never go to sleep, can you squeeze out a few more hours and still "meet your Aug 6 deadline" by submitting at 3:14 am on [technically] Aug 7?

Even though informally "today" means "until I go to sleep", the convention is that the date changes at midnight, which is also reinforced by how computer clocks show the date. Hence, I think the midnight deadline came about as an extension of this - it's just a date delimiter.

As for the students, since you are concerned about how late they go to sleep, surely you will agree that planning ahead and not leaving everything to the last minute is an important skill to be learned as part of tertiary education. This, then, the students must learn on their own, you cannot help them by tinkering with deadlines, since indeed the deadline is not what is preventing their learning. In fact, one could argue that you should maximize the negative reinforcement, and set the deadline at the worst possible time - say 6 am: The more misery you inflict on the procrastinators, the better they will appreciate how important it is to learn discipline, and the sooner they will take steps to unlearn their bad habits.

Granted, I'm not seriously suggesting you do the above, since it seems like it could go horribly wrong. Realistically, I could instead suggest the following:

• Set your deadline at some reasonable, early time such as noon.
• Secretly (ie. do not tell this part to the students) have the "real deadline" (for instance, the one you lose points for missing) be quite a bit later, say 5 pm.
• In class, say that it is very important they not miss the deadline even by a minute (don't say why), and they should come talk to you if they feel they won't make it.
• When they inevitably come asking for more time, be liberal with the extensions, but not before making them explain why they were late and lecturing them on the importance of planning ahead. When giving the extension, explain that they absolutely cannot miss the extended deadline, because then you would not be able to meet your own deadline for grading (whether true or not).
• If anyone misses the noon deadline (but not the 5 pm deadline), confront them about it to discourage submitting late without asking for an extension (which allows bypassing the social discomfort of asking for more time).

With this, you might create something like a low stakes environment (you don't lose massive points just for being a few minutes late) while still creating a fair amount of social pressure to increase the likelihood of a lightbulb appearing and the student thinking, "Hey, Dr. Ward is very nice and reasonable about deadlines and everything, but maybe it's worth for me to try to stop leaving everything to the last minute?". Furthermore, if you force them into an explicit discussion about their procrastination, they have an opportunity to ask you for advice on how to plan their work.

But all of this requires quite a bit of effort from you (much more than just replacing "midnight" with "10 pm" on your syllabus). So if you are not willing to commit the energy, there isn't really much that can be achieved with quick fixes.

• 3 Basically, you are recommending a holistic approach to the way I use the online platform, am I not correct? ;-) Fair enough. Since I cannot handle the complete discussion in one step, I will be concentrating separately on each aspect. But you are very right to comment on the fact it is a complete process with many aspects to it. –  ALAN WARD Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 20:02
• 44 "...unless the work demanded is truly overwhelming, but in college it never is..." I feel the need to say that this is largely a matter of opinion. What is a piece of cake to one person could very well overwhelm another person. Just because you never got/get overwhelmed by college doesn't mean that nobody does. However, I realize this does not invalidate your answer, nor does it even invalidate the first part of the sentence saying that lack of sleep is probably not tied to the timing of deadlines. –  PrinceTyke Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 12:20
• 6 Imagine a single parent with a full-time job who is also going to school full-time. It is certainly possible that they could get overwhelmed at some point. I like your answer other than that part. –  Benjamin Hubbard Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 14:39
• 5 +1 to @PrinceTyke, -1 to this answer. Overwhelming is a relative term. Also, you're way too pessimistic about people's reasons for their habits and generally the whole thing. –  user541686 Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 21:00
• 3 "and not leaving everything to the last minute is an important skill to be learned as part of tertiary education" -- I learned this is an incredibly effective way of getting s*** done in college. One semester Sundays 8pm - 4am was one problem set, Thursdays 6pm - 6am was another, A's in both courses. Now I go to work and generally do work doing the day so not at night, so it's moot. And as far not procrastinating on things like going to the DMV, getting bloodwork done, paying rent on time, etc., those have nothing to do with things I learned in college. –  user18072 Commented Aug 9, 2015 at 22:19

First of all, I think the distribution that you're seeing is not very unusual, and indeed looks very similar to the distribution of times that I see coming from mature scientists submitting conference papers and grants.

It is simply that people, including your students, tend to overcommit themselves and to underestimate the difficulty of work. When that is combined with tasks on which there is a flexible amount of effort that can be invested (e.g., quality of work on an assignment), it is generally the case that "this work is done" is an ill-defined notion, and instead it gets triaged at some point of time shortly before the assignment. Better and more prepared students (or whoever) simply climb farther up in quality before triaging.

Given that, I generally advocate for a policy of "tight deadlines, lots of mercy." That means setting the deadline slightly before when you really want the assignment turned in, and then being very liberal about accepting requests for extension up until your secret "real deadline."

Addressing your specific question about timing, I think that if you want your students to get more sleep, moving the deadline up a couple of hours is a totally reasonable tactic: given the phenomena at work, it is unlikely to affect the distribution or quality of the assignments you receive. Depending on how your automated system works, you may also be able to explicitly support an official deadline of 10pm, with the de facto ability to leave the submission system open longer to receive the main tranche of "just a little bit late" assignments.

• 3 Yes, this strategy is indeed possible with our (Moodle-based) system. The only point that hinders me in applying it is the fact that students will rapidly become aware of the rules actually being applied. It is worth some thought, though - and the analysis is well appreciated. –  ALAN WARD Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 12:12
• 81 I think this is unfair to students who take deadlines seriously. If they had problems with a homework, they would turn in what they had shortly before the stated deadline. They lose the points they could have gained if they had known the real deadline, and taken a few more hours. –  Patricia Shanahan Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 13:29
• 28 A good policy they had at my university was staggered penalties. IIRC you'd lose 1 point out of 22 for missing the deadline, no excuses, then another point for each additional 24 hours. So those who overcommit learn a valuable life lesson without their work being completely wasted, and those who plan ahead are rewarded. And if, like me, you discover a catestrophic error 24 hours before deadline, you make a tradeoff between submitting fixed work a day late at -1 point and incorrect work on time at -?? points –  user56reinstatemonica8 Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 14:17
• 21 Set the official deadline to 22:00 and let the system accept submissions until 22:30 - this will not really be unfair to diligent students, because 30min will not likely decide between life&dead - but many students will be happy akin wow... already 21:59 and the internet is slow as hell.... 22:03 uploading - yeah I got lucky it sill worked! –  Falco Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 14:48
• 15 @O.R.Mapper you can easily add this as a benefit rather than penalty - if your submission is more than 3 days before the deadline you get 3 extra points for free. Because with an overall assignemtn time of 3 weeks, most students start to work on the problem 1-2 days before deadline... so either you start early to get the bonus, or you are already one of the late ones and don't complain if someone was 20minutes slower... –  Falco Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 14:51

I would consider a deadline at around 10p.m. very wise and student-friendly. I remember staying up late night as long as the submission system allows to post a new version and polishing the hell out of my assignment, although it probably made little difference.

As a lecturer I have always readily given small extensions to people who asked at least a little (about a day) in advance before the deadline, because I think that this fosters good habits in life: it is OK to fail sometimes, but you should handle the failure responsibly and warn people depending on you in advance.

I like the "tight deadlines, lots of mercy" policy mentioned in another answer (which I think is one of the good solutions). If you are worried that students will learn and exploit this policy, you can have a deadline that is openly less strict: for example subtracting 10 points from the evaluation of the assignment for every hour of delay or letting the students to submit until the next lecture, but for half the points. I experienced this a few times as a student and it was motivational yet forgiving to small lapses.

• 1 Nice solution. I have applied at times a variant, which is to waive the penalty the first time - but not on successive occasions. As you say, I was aiming for the motivational aspect. –  ALAN WARD Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 12:35
• 2 +1 for the second paragraph; this advice is especially useful in professional life. If you have a team of people waiting for 'your piece', then letting them know in advance that you won't have it ready until a day after the deadline is nothing but helpful. At that point, they can work on something else that doesn't need your piece. This applies to group projects especially (university or professional). –  Chris Cirefice Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 15:27

I'd like to add my two cents as a current student with three years of college behind me. In my experience, I've always preferred having a deadline of midnight to a deadline of 10pm because during the school year, I'm often up until midnight regardless, and sometimes my workload requires me to prioritize my assignments in such a way that many things get submitted in the eleventh hour, so to speak. Furthermore, I tend to do much of my work in the late evening, as that's when I personally am able to focus on assignments the best. This experience comes from three years from a Computer Science undergrad, so take it with whatever that information brings. I think the deadline will mean different things to different students regardless of when it actually is, and I think students will still end up submitting just before the deadline is due, but I personally prefer midnight to 10pm.

• 3 Agreed; also as a Computer Science undergrad, our CS labs are usually just about empty between 8 PM and midnight. I don't like to work from home because there are too many distractions, and an empty CS lab at night is the perfect working environment (for me). Those are the only assignments that I put off (which is a bad idea because coding is prone to a million errors for simple mistakes), but for me it makes the most sense to do that. Midnight for me is a good deadline time. –  Chris Cirefice Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 15:29
• 1 I completely agree with the sentiment that an empty (I'll settle for simply sparsely-populated, provided I have some headphones) CS lab at night is the perfect working environment. Putting off programming assignments is awful, but I think the vast majority of CS students do so. I know I do. –  PrinceTyke Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 15:36
• @ChrisCirefice, I have fond memories of allnighters in the computer lab to which I had a key as a graduate student, as regular labs were closed and the machines weren't hopelessly overloaded at night. But there was no staff on hand to unwedge your account (happened regularly as a result of some stupid command combinations). That was time to go home ;-) –  vonbrand Commented Aug 26, 2015 at 20:37

As a PhD candidate who has taught (as in was the primary lecturer, not just a TA) and recently taken classes I have a different opinion than to move assignments to an early time, e.g. 10PM. My solution for a programming intensive class that I taught was to make the assignments always due at 5AM on Saturday. I picked Saturday specifically because if they wanted to stay up late it would not affect attending class that day. My reasoning behind the 5AM time was that the time you make assignments due can actually relate to your late policy.

By making assignments due at 5AM on Saturday I could be very strict about late assignments. My late policy was simple: it's late, it's a zero grade, no exceptions . I had a script that would grab all the assignments at 5:02AM (okay so they got a 2 minute window) and that was the only thing I would look at. If they submitted at 5:04AM it was never graded. If a student would come back and complain that they just missed the deadline my response was simple:

Look you had all night to work on the assignment and you obviously had to stay up extremely late which means you didn't budget your time well or you thought it would be so simple you could do it in a night. Both of those assumptions were wrong. I hope for the next assignment you do not make the same mistake.

Finally, I had a draconian late policy (which might be a bit off topic to the question but is relevant to my answer) for a very simple reason. As a TA who has had to grade countless number of homework assignments, you spend probably about 25% to 50% of your time dealing with the 5% of the assignments that were late, either because you have to schedule a demo on a different day than the rest, or you have to go back to problems to see how you previously took points of for a (semi-)wrong answer, etc. This is a huge unnecessary drain on human resources and can greatly affect research progress. Now this usually doesn't matter if the assignment is just 5 minutes late but by having a strict late policy I avoided all the: "it was only a day late can I get partial credit", arguments and those assignments do add an unnecessary burden on grader/TA.

And as for how this policy works in practice. Per semester, I usually have only one student submit one assignment that is just barely late, say submitted after 5AM and before 5:30AM. The rest get a very clear picture.

I should add that this policy did result in piazza , which we used for class communication, exploding the night the assignment was due but I made it very clear to the students that after 9PM I was not answering any piazza or email questions. If they wanted to use piazza to ask each other questions that was fine but I did not participate.

• 1 Yours seems like yet another good justification for moving the deadline into the middle of a night. The only slight disadvantage that I could see with having it on a Saturday night is that (probably (?)) you aren't going to grade the assignments on Sunday, anyway, and some students may specifically plan to use their weekend, including Sundays, for working on assignments. On the other hand, it might of course help them arrive at a work-on-Saturday-get-a-free-Sunday schedule to some extent. –  O. R. Mapper Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 18:51
• 5 @O.R.Mapper actually it was due on Saturday 5AM specifically so I could use the weekend to grade and have the grades given back by Monday, when the class would meet. This reaffirmed the "its done don't talk to be about an extension" mindset. You could push it back 24 hours so it was due on Sunday at 5AM, same idea basically. –  missimer Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 18:55
• Oh, and one remark on your text: I take it "piazza" is the name of your online submission system, but it suddenly appears somewhat out of nowhere in your last paragraph. –  O. R. Mapper Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 19:18
• 2 @ALANWARD actually the assignments were somewhat large, 3-4 weeks, but I did automate some of the grading as it was a programming class. I would argue that it would work if it took longer to grade as that was not a key thing in my experience just a nice bonus, but I can't say with any level of certainty. If the assignments took longer to grade, perhaps students would argue for the assignment to be extended to include the weekend. –  missimer Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 20:01
• 1 5am on Saturday morning seems an excellent time. Nobody can claim with a straight face that they intended to work until five minutes before the deadline and were a bit too late if the deadline is at 5am in the morning. –  gnasher729 Commented Aug 8, 2015 at 8:26

Without getting into considerations on whether students should plan better [...] would changing deadline times from midnight to, for example, 10 p.m. be a good move from the standpoint of their getting enough sleep.

Most likely, yes, students on average would get more sleep. I was TAing a class last term (a computer science class for 4th-year undergraduate students in college), the weekly assignment deadline was 10 AM on Sunday. Here is the typical submission time cumulative distribution we would get:

As we discussed with the professor when to set the deadline, we simply based our decision on when the assignments would be graded, and left students freedom to organize their schedule. While some need to sleep early, others prefer to work at night.

• 4 Please, is the graph cumulative? Does it show number of submissions submitted until time t or number of submissions submitted around time t ? –  yo' Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 7:56
• 1 @yo' cumulative –  Franck Dernoncourt Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 15:44

I suggest the opposite course of action by moving the deadline further into the night. Set it at a time where no-one voluntarily would want to hand in their work. In my opinion, that is the best incentive to have them reconsider their personal scheduling.

As for the online system, you write:

The impression that is perceived is that the online nature of the submission system makes students take slightly more liberties with deadlines than when assignments had to be handed in, in a face-to-face situation

I suspect this is coupled to how the online system is generally presented, as I have made the opposite experience. We generally communicate a very strict "hand in via the system, or do not hand in at all" policy. That is, e-mails will generally not be accepted as an alternative to submission via the system (as long as the system is not actually having internal technical issues). As opposed to e-mails, where there is always a certain leeway for asking for exceptional treatment along the lines of "the e-mail sent at 09:59 was routed in a way so it only arrived at 10:01", when the online system is announced to close down at 10, it will automatically close down at 10 (ideally, while displaying the server time in its web-based interface). This way, non-uniform acceptance of delayed submissions between different instructors for one class is avoided.

although it is clear that even then there will always be a certain percentage of people with difficulties respecting deadlines

Indeed, unfortunately, that is unavoidable - but as being able to stick to deadlines is one of the factors expected of a professional, these people simply will not get their degree in the end.

would changing deadline times from midnight to, for example, 10 p.m. be a good move from the standpoint of their getting enough sleep (moral considerations welcome) and actually attending class at the beginning of the next day?

I would somewhat doubt it. A pattern that I seem to perceive in people around me, both students and non-students, is that either they work until late at night and are very exhausted from that, or they work slightly shorter, are not totally exhausted ... and instead stay up doing whatever they like doing until they are equally exhausted. Maybe yours is not even the only deadline in the same evening, and changing your deadline only changes the order in which the tasks will be treated. I simply do not see a strong connection between your submission deadline and the time they actually go to bed.

EDIT: Reading Ángel's answer made me aware that it cannot be taken for granted in an online submission system that students can replace their submission once they have uploaded something. I consider such a feature essential. I am fully in favour of encouraging students to plan thoroughly and be on time, but if a satisfactory submission that solves the declared task has been made well within the deadline, I see no point in disallowing the respective student from replacing it with an updated version that is even a bit more tidy or well-explained.

• Interesting take on the problem. You make an assessment of the email system that corresponds very well to what we have observed here: it is just does not precise enough (as regards timing) to use it for submissions. However, as regards enforcing a very strict system, unfortunately some excuses will inevitably be receivable ("my father just died" has happened to me - and it was actually true :-( ). So, we are back to the dilemma of where do we draw the line between receivable and non-receivable reasons. Hmmm... some flexibility seems unavoidable. –  ALAN WARD Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 14:08
• @ALANWARD: Well, it may be a question of how obvious the path to stating the excuses are. E-mail is a means of communication, and accordingly, students may readily use it not only to submit their homework, but also to communicate why it is arriving late. A web-based submission form that does not allow for any "message", on the other hand, may not to the same extent signal readiness to accept any additional information, and it is primarily only students that actually have compelling reasons for excuses that will, in addition to the submission, send a message some other way. With that said, ... –  O. R. Mapper Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 14:11
• ... in cases like the one you alluded to we usually do not extend the submission deadline, but rather tell the respective people to wait until the end of the semester. Should they be missing points compared to the score required for "passing" the course, we can work something out then (e.g. a brief oral exam, or an extra task, ...). That minimizes the administrative hassle and does not imply any penalty for the student. (Of course, it works only if the overall course result is binary, or discrete enough for a missing submission not to have any effect.) –  O. R. Mapper Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 14:14
• @O.R.Mapper, passing is not sufficient for most students in the US. Grades are basically numerical scores in the end, so good students have the right to try to maximize them. I agree that we can accommodate true emergencies, but it often has to be in a way equivalent to them having handed in on time. –  Bill Barth Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 15:57
• @BillBarth: In such a case, a more immediate solution is probably adviseable indeed. In my place, the system mostly works by each course coming with assignments during the semester from which a score can be accumulated, and only if a minimum score is reached from those assignments (thus making this a binary choice), the student is allowed to take the exam on the course, which will then result in a grade (a numerical score) that will form a part of the final degree grade (also a numerical score). Hence, there are some places where binary decisions sometimes appear, as a preliminary step. –  O. R. Mapper Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 16:07

Remember: it's not your duty to clean your students noses and make sure they submit everything on time or weeks before the deadline. If you want to be merciful you can apply increasing penalties or you can set a hard cutoff if you're not feeling merciful. You'll probably get less pleading emails and headaches if you apply a sliding scale of penalties but it's up to you and you shouldn't feel you have to.

You have no duty to hand everyone a pass. Don't feel bad if some people screw themselves over by not submitting on time.

I encountered lots of variation as a student and have few strong feelings about it though I always somewhat preferred late-night deadlines because I worked better in the evening.

As long as the deadlines don't change: the only time a deadline ever pissed me off was when the professor kept changing it. 3 weeks, no 2 weeks, no 4 weeks, no 1 week etc.

• 2 You have no duty to hand everyone a pass. He is being paid to teach them. So you could say it is his duty to have as many pass as possible. Every failed student is a failed teacher, to some degree. –  Jonathon Commented Aug 10, 2015 at 17:37
• 3 @JonathonWisnoski no, if he was teaching 4 year olds that might be true but at collage the students are adults. He's being paid to provide an opportunity to learn and an opportunity for the person to prove they've learned. If people don't take one or the other opportunity when provided with a fair chance that is 100% on them. Universities also provide a third service to the rest of society: They certify that their graduates were competent enough to pass a university course. If they pass someone too inept to hand in assignments they've failed utterly in that last duty. –  Murphy Commented Aug 10, 2015 at 19:16

I have dealt with this issue in setting closing times for Webwork assignments, which is a kind of online Content Management System specific to mathematics.

After having tried out various times, I have converged on 7pm. Why?

Originally I had it due at 5pm. There is something about 5pm that is hard to complain about: in the US it is widely regarded as the end of the work day. It is the latest in the day you could set a meeting or an appointment without apologizing or confirming in advance that it is okay. There is a wide cultural feeling that people should be working until 5pm, at which point they want to go home.

Well, I said hard to complain about. The complaints I got were that people were submitting their solutions at 4:59:47 and not getting accepted by the system. Such complaints are very hard to verify (especially if you don't try) and pretty annoying. So what I said was, "You should think of the assignment as being due at 5pm and work accordingly. The extra two hours is a grace period that will nullify any technical difficulties."

Two other benefits of having roughly this due time:

1) If students want to ask questions before it's due (or rather, until 5pm), those questions will come during my normal work day. I might get a chance to answer them, and I certainly will not resent them. It can be annoying to get an email at 11:47pm for an assignment which is due at midnight with the implication that if you do not reply in time you are impeding their learning.

2) I post the solutions after a two hour delay. This time frame makes it more feasible to push back the due date a few hours before the deadline if that really seems like a good idea. If the due time were, say, 3 am, this would not be as convenient.

• 6 As a current student and full time worker I think 5 pm is way too early for a due date, this would force me to have to finish the assignment the night before because I work all day. I think midnight is much more flexible and fair to night owls like me –  reggaeguitar Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 15:41
• 7 @reggaeguitar: Yes, part of the point of this due time is to discourage students from waiting until the last day. There is no problem in finishing the assignment the night before. The number of late nights that you have to do the assignment is the same. –  Pete L. Clark Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 15:55
• 2 Also, I should clarify that this policy was for a course taught in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia. Students who work all day could not attend such courses, since they are only scheduled during the 8am-5pm work day. –  Pete L. Clark Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 16:00
• 3 I've been a procrastinator my whole life and never run into problems because of it; I wait until the last day for literally all of my assignments. In my opinion the teacher's job is to teach, not to "discourage students from waiting until the last day". –  reggaeguitar Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 16:09
• 10 @reggaeguitar: Many instructors believe that encouraging students to spend more time rather than less engaging the material is one of the most important parts of the teaching process. If you stay in academia long enough, you will unavoidably receive assignments that it is literally impossible to complete in a single day, e.g. a PhD dissertation. Even as an undergraduate, if you never receive assignments that require more than one day of work, you are probably missing out on some important learning experiences. Consider whether you are taking courses that really challenge you. –  Pete L. Clark Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 16:17

The system is flexible precisely for allowing that. For those 65% students sending in-the-hour, you can't know if they did it at 23:00 or if they had the assignment ready in their hard disk for a week, but didn't hand in until then.

I agree they are probably doing the work at 23:00, but a big point to take into account shall be their other duties . If yours was their only commitment, the graphic would probably change, but other subjects will be placing their own tasks, they may be practising sports, etc.

The main reason for delaying a task was having many other assignments due earlier. I should also note that if you open a task before it has been fully explained, it will actually deter from trying to complete it early, since you transmit the idea that "it can't be done yet".

I would keep the late hour, or perhaps even move it later (the 5 AM proposal is a good idea).

(Hint: Never place a deadline at day X at 00:00 but to day X-1 at 23:59, there's a big UI factor there)

Another option I initally liked was to place it at 7:59 the next day (just before the begin of the next day), but it has the drawback that you may delay the "final submit" when you wake up, and fail for a "computer error". OTOH, you may allow that way that they can hand it in manually to you the next day (or if your class is at 11:00, the deadline could be at 10:59, thus you can start the class asking for phisical submission of anyone that otherwise failed).

Another point to ids that you should allow, if supported by your platform, multiple "draft" uploads. Make clear that you won't be viewing them (until the deadline passes). Thus, you can submit the almost-ready work, and if there's a catastrophic failure after it gets the final revision, the draft would be considered final (you may eg. miss some spell-checking fixes).

A problem I identified is that as you are only allowed to submit once, you delay for the final version, even if it's almost ready, and then problems kick-in like "it takes too long to upload", "you included too many graphics in png, and the generated file is now over the size limit" (and you end up rushing to change all of them to jpeg). Limits which are not always clearly stated (eg. an email filesize limit, the webmail taking forever for accepting an upload...).

I would also accept that they commit a hash of their work in case they have some upload problem (although your students need to be a bit computer-savvy for that). [They provide before the deadline a hash of the file they are going to turn in, so there's no way they can provide a different file later, even if the upload fails at that point in time]

If you want to encourage early submission, I would provide bonus points for submitting early. Sending an automatic reminder to people who hasn't submitted yet may also improve the submission times (the right timing is very important here, though. The due date shouldn't be far away, and the email should be received at an , you are unlikely to remember at home -or in the weekend!- the email reminder received on Monday morning).

PS: There are cases where the students program meeting during a break previous to the class for doing the task, so I don't think it is right to consider that they take "more liberties with [online] deadlines than when they are handed in in a face-to-face situation".

• I somewhat disagree with your examples for other duties. While it is true there are also other courses with assignments as a part of the studies, at least at my place, university rules generally make it very clear that studying a major is a full-time job that must be granted the first priority in the student's life. Part-time jobs, if any, and hobbies such as practising sports have to be scheduled in a way so as to not conflict with the university courses. At least in such a setting, only another university assignment can serve as a valid excuse. Good point about the option to submit ... –  O. R. Mapper Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 18:43
• ... several versions of an assignment, though. In my answer , I had taken that option for granted, but I will add a remark that such a feature is essential and should always be there. –  O. R. Mapper Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 18:44
• 2 @O.R.Mapper, I was not talking about additionally having a job, but different subjects, all of them setting tasks and fighting for the student time. At least in my experience, teachers tend to be completely unaware of each other assignments, and there's not even one with a whole view of the students duties (even for a "classic" students with the expected subjects). –  Ángel Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 19:28
• @O.R.Mapper And I mentioned sports as a reason for scheduling the assignments late at night. So, with the original midnight deadline, you could plan ahead and probably prefer to practise X at 7pm, after all university courses, and do the assignment later at night, instead of doing the assignment early and playing football at 1am ;) –  Ángel Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 19:32
• Interestingly enough, I can take your comments to heart since I have recently passed another Master's at an online university. This last semester I had four subjects. Most assignments were due on precisely the same day, and the others within a three-day window. So, I agree teachers do not (and perhaps cannot) reliably take into account other subjects' calendars. This is perhaps an area where online systems should allow us to better synchronize, but the underlying problem is complex when handling a large number of subjects and an even larger number of students. –  ALAN WARD Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 19:57

I think midnight is reasonable. I've been known to set certain cut off times with the same thing in mind. My students had to have their online workbooks done by 2:00 am when I started realizing some of them were working on them all night long the night before the test (traditionally due by the start of the test). Because our department policy was 50% late credit for those assignments, I would tell them to just stop at 2:00 and get sleep and take the test fully rested, and finish up their (now late) work the next day.

Back in the day, I'd tend to turn in papers at the last minute, but only because I wanted to have the maximum amount of "rest time" between writing it and doing a final check for those typos you can only find after removing yoursef a bit, so I'd caution against saying they're rushing the writing bit just because they turn it in at the last minute.

The only way you can address people trying to rush to finish an assignment is to have periodic due dates for particular elements of the paper. Not knowing your subject, you could do something like this (not necessarily in sequential days, of course):

• Day 1: general topic defined
• Day 2: preliminary bibliography
• Day 3: 25% ish written
• Day 4: 75% ish written
• Day 5: Completed copy

The first four days could just be checks (rather than graded) so as to not add to your workload.

• OK, basically you are giving the student a bit of extra guidance as to how to manage their time doing the final assignment. This is certainly actually quite helpful and necessary for some students, but perhaps a tad complicated since you now need to think about late submissions for each element of the paper. What happens if the general topic is still in a state of limbo on the day the bibliography is due? Can the students submit the two together? Must they? Decisions, decisions... ;-) –  ALAN WARD Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 19:46
• 2 Do not do this except for very long assignments, and do not do this unless you plan on giving the students feedback on each submission they can use to improve the next (and final) product. Don't assume you can manage your student's time better than they can themselves. They have a lot more information about how they work and their schedule than you ever can. I worked full time to pay the mortgage and feed the kids when I was in school. Any attempts at help like this generally resulted in more late (or sleepless) nights as it forced me to work on the instructor's schedule rather than my own. –  Mr.Mindor Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 22:36
• @Mr.Mindor if a student has a personal situation and communicates it with me in advance, I'm generally willing make reasonable exceptions to policy for them. But when I've tested distributed due dates versus the single one, student evals (and, honestly, quality of work) pushed me towards preferring distributed dates for work. If due dates posted well in advance, a working student can get things done likewise well in advance or make any other adjustments they need. –  user0721090601 Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 23:09

I don't think you should be choosing between 10pm and midnight at all; deadlines should not be in the middle of the night, or the small hours of the morning, or at the weekends or... any time outside a standard working day.

Students are not just at university to get grades; they are also preparing for the rest of their lives in employment and society at large. Also, on the whole, university is not a hobby, it is a full-time job. The messages I'm hearing from your question (and some of the answers) is that it is reasonable to expect to not complete your work until the middle of the night, that it is reasonable to expect others to continue working long after they should have gone home, and that expectations should be adjusted to fit your personal preferences. The last of these will not be true when they start being paid. The other two I personally think are negatively affecting our society. I've become aware of a battle quietly raging over whether it is acceptable to not work overnight, at the weekend and while on holiday.

• Indeed, some active professionals seem be "on duty" 24h/24 and not to have much time for rest and private life at all. I agree this is somewhat not fair. However, I would also like to point out that a student's timetable will typically show some 20+ hours of class, which is not a full work day. If students choose to program their personal study and homework within the 9-to-5 span, fair play to them - they are showing self-discipline which will probably end up in good results. But if they prefer working at night ... I guess I agree with many that is not my business. –  ALAN WARD Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 7:26
• Sorry, no, this is not how it works at many places. University is worse than the true company quite often in that they put really varying workload on the students. Sometimes you get loads of free time, and sometimes you work hard and you can't get around it. Ignoring this as a teacher is plain wrong. Many people simply do work late nights and for students, this is more than usual. It is also given by the fact that at their age, they easily get used to such lifestyle etc. -- this is also not true in industry. –  yo' Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 7:54
• None of that has anything to do with setting a deadline at a sensible time of day rather than in the night time. You can do your work in the night if you want, but you have to do it the night BEFORE the deadline. arguing that the workload varies for students is not relevant to moving a deadline by a few hours, if they're getting at least a week to do the work. –  Jessica B Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 18:38
• And the reason many academics work all night and weekend is it's the only time they can get on with their jobs without students pestering them about the assignments. –  Jessica B Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 18:39
• 2 Young people are typically on a later schedule than older adults, which is one reason they shouldn't be coerced into a 9-5 schedule. –  user18072 Commented Aug 9, 2015 at 22:28

Personally, from my experience as a student, I think midnight is a good deadline. Many students have jobs and other obligations and a midnight deadline gives them time to come home from work, have dinner and unwind and then spend a few hours double checking the assignment before they hand it in.

Moving the deadline to 10pm may not give enough time to students who work.

• 2 well, they have got enough time ... the day before ... and the day before that ... and ... –  yo' Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 7:54
• Almost all comments here from students state that they like to proofread or double check before handing in. I was not referring to actually doing the assignment but just a double check. –  confused Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 17:02

I recommend that you set the deadline to the time that makes the most sense for you. Arbitrarily setting it earlier or later has no effect on student's time management skills.

As an example, I used to set online homework deadlines to be one hour before the class in which we would go over them started. That way, students wouldn't be trying to work on them until the last minute and would be able to get to class on time. That wasn't out of concern for the students - it was for me. I didn't want to deal with "I was doing the homework" as an excuse, or even a temptation, for being late.

Likewise, setting the deadline earlier would have no benefit to me, and would be arbitrary. I don't know what is going on in my students lives, and giving them the maximum possible time to finish the assignment gives them the freedom to manage their time as they see fit.

The only time I deviated from these rules are when I wanted to make sure that multiple classes had the same amount of time to finish an assignment. In that case, it was still for my convenience, since I wanted to use the homework as an evaluation tool and keeping the length of time to work on it consistent helped with that.

If you think about it, the "real world" works this way too - deadlines are not typically set for the convenience or out of concern for the person doing the work. They are there because someone else (the person determining the deadline) needs the work done by a certain time, or something bad will happen.

That said, it is hard to imagine a situation where "at midnight" is a deadline that makes sense for either you or the students.

• This. If you plan to start grading them at 4pm on tuesday, then that is the deadline. –  RemcoGerlich Commented Aug 10, 2015 at 9:48

Having implemented a 10 pm deadline, I think it works fine. I have two comments to make:

• There is no "neutral" answer here. By selecting an hour you are necessarily nudging students in one direction. We cannot get away with this . I suggest you nudge them towards more sleep, also because of point 2.
• I would be very annoyed if another professor puts a deadline that nudges students to have a short night before my class. Students might skip my lecture or be tired at it for working close to the deadline. As such, I think it is a good practice, for solidarity with other courses, to set an earlier rather than later deadline.

Got interested at the point "Moodle-type" (system); If possible, I would recommend keeping midnight and removing the "hard" deadline, i.e. people can still submit after the deadline, but will be highlighted (at least that's how it works in Moodle) and disable the assignment some time later (e.g. the next day), but state that submissions after the deadline will not be accepted. Why?

• 5min off doesn't matter: you can overlook anyone who has a slow connection / forgot to check the clock on their "final sprint" / or whatever
• If someone submits way too late, you can either outright ignore the submission or reduce their points by some value / percentage (e.g. 10% per day)
• Midnight is feasible for some nights-but-not-overnights-action, so people "learn" there is a deadline, but still can act a litlle short-term-ish

There will be people deliberately abusing this, but in the end, they (could) end up with 0 points.

Seen & used this approach in a few courses (both as student and teacher) and had little to no problems with it.

Clarification Note: I also rarely started grading 1 or 2 days after the deadline, if you cannot afford such a time-frame, such a "tolerant" approach might not be suitable.

Submission time may or may not have anything to do with when a student STARTS the assignment, so even the students turning it in at the last minute may not be under pressure.

As long as you give reasonable deadlines and clearly post them to avoid "gotcha" situations, any deadline you give is certainly fair.

Personally, I usually base deadlines on my needs, but make every effort to give the students the most time I can without creating a burdensome situation for myself or my TAs. For example, if I'd like the TAs to be grading over the weekend, I'll usually make the due date late Friday PM. This way, the TAs have time to assemble their weekend work, and if there are students (actually, teams in my case) that need to be tracked down because there was a problem with the submission, there's still time to do it without impacting the work flow.

• 2 A different issue is whether it is reasonable to expect TAs to grade over the weekend. –  J W Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 17:16

You could also consider setting two deadlines: one deadline for an initial submission, and a second deadline for the final submission. More students might submit the final version shortly after the second deadline, since they would have received a reward: I already completed that much of it .

• 3 You then need to clearly define what counts as an initial submission. Is a header file enough for a programming exercise? What if it doesn't compile? And if you do so, then you essentially turned the assignment into two assignments with separate deadlines. –  liori Commented Aug 6, 2015 at 23:20

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Student Tips

Late assignment submission excuses that don’t fail.

June 27, 2023 • 10 min read

Academic success depends on completing assignments on time, but occasionally unexpected obstacles arise in life. Although it's always best to plan ahead and manage your time well, late submission excuses have become a common part of student life. In these situations, we need to be resourceful. In this article, we examine a few original and creative justifications for late assignment submissions. 

But before you do anything, take a deep breath and think about your options. There are some good excuses for turning in an assignment late, and there are some that are just plain bad.

Good Excuses for Late Assignment Submission:

Although it is typically not advisable to give justifications for late assignment submissions because it is crucial to prioritize responsibility and time management, there might be occasions when unavoidable circumstances arise. Here are a few valid justifications for submitting an assignment after the deadline:

• Personal Illness or Injury: If you had a sudden illness or injury that made it difficult for you to finish the assignment on time, that is a good reason to ask for a deadline extension. To prove your claim, offer the necessary proof, such as a medical certificate.
• Family Emergency: It might be necessary to ask for an extension for your assignment if there is a serious family emergency, such as the hospitalization of a close relative or the occurrence of a natural disaster.
• Technical Problems: There may occasionally be technical issues that are beyond your control, such as a computer crash, an internet outage, or a software malfunction. These problems may make it difficult for you to finish and turn in the assignment on time. Inform your professor right away, and if you can, include proof like screenshots or error messages.
• Unforeseen Events: Unexpected situations, like a last-minute work commitment, transportation problems, or a personal crisis, may make it difficult for you to finish an assignment on time. If such circumstances occur, be open and honest with your professor about them.
• Academic Overload: It can occasionally be difficult to meet all the deadlines if you find yourself overwhelmed with numerous assignments and coursework. In these circumstances, proactive communication with your professor is preferable.

Bad Excuses for Late Assignment Submission:

While it's critical to be open and truthful about legitimate justifications for late assignment submissions, it's equally crucial to identify and refrain from offering lame justifications that lack veracity or show a lack of accountability. Examples of justifications that are typically viewed as inappropriate or unconvincing include the following:

• Procrastination: Blaming procrastination or poor time management for the delay will have a negative impact on your ability to prioritize your obligations. Taking responsibility for your actions is always preferable to using procrastination as a justification.
• Social Events or Partying: Saying that you were unable to finish the assignment because you were out having fun or attending social events, parties, or other entertainment-related activities suggests that you value your leisure time more than your academic responsibilities.
• Internet or Power Outage: Although technical difficulties can occasionally happen, using an internet or power outage as a justification without supporting evidence or documentation may be considered a weak defense. It is a good idea to have backup plans, like local power or alternative internet sources.
• Forgetting the Due Date: Forgetting the due date for an assignment is not a good justification because it shows a lack of planning and focus. It's critical to remember due dates and use calendars, reminders, and other organizational tools to stay on top of things.
• Personal Relationship Problems: It may come across as unprofessional and unconvincing to blame a late submission on relationship issues or disagreements with friends, family, or romantic partners. It is best to keep personal matters separate from academic obligations and seek assistance or support if needed.
• Lack of Resources: It may not be acceptable to claim that you were unable to complete the assignment because you lacked the necessary books or materials. Planning ahead and making prompt use of the resources at hand are crucial.

How to Write an Excuse for a Late Assignment:

If you do have a legitimate reason for turning in an assignment late, it's important to write a clear and concise excuse. Here are some tips:

• Be honest. Don't try to lie or make up excuses. Your professor will be able to tell if you're not being truthful.
• Be specific. Explain exactly what happened and why it prevented you from turning in your assignment on time.
• Be apologetic. Express your sincere apologies for turning in your assignment late.
• Be respectful. Address your professor by their title and last name.

How to ask a professor to accept a late assignment by mail:  

You can use the following example of an email to ask your professor to accept a late assignment:

Dear Professor [Name of the Professor],

I'm writing to ask for a delay in the due date for my [course name and number] assignment, [name of assignment]. The assignment was supposed to be turned in on [original due date], but I need it by [new due date].

I apologize for the submission's tardiness. I am aware that this is not an excuse, but a few unforeseen events kept me from finishing the assignment on time.

I had a family emergency that needed to be attended to first. I had to travel to be with my [relationship to family member] because they were in the hospital. This consumed a substantial amount of time.

Second, my computer was having some technical issues. My files were completely lost when my hard drive crashed. I lost a few days as a result of having to start the assignment from scratch.

Even though I am aware that the circumstances are not ideal, I am determined to do my very best to complete the task. The finished assignment is attached to this email.

I would appreciate it if you would give my request for a delay some thought. I am sure I can finish the assignment by the new due date.

I appreciate your consideration and time.

Sincerely, [Your Name]

Final Thoughts:

While excuses for late assignment submissions can be amusing and humorous, it's important to keep in mind that accountability and time management should always come first. These ingenious justifications ought to be used sparingly and shouldn't serve to reinforce dishonesty or procrastination as bad habits. It's best to be open with your professors, ask for extra time when you need it, and make an effort to turn in assignments on time. Always keep in mind that education is a journey towards growth and development on both a personal and academic level. If you follow these tips, you will increase your chances of having your request granted.

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