How to Release Scores in Google Forms
Dvir Atias
Jul 19, 2026
To release scores in Google Forms, open your quiz, go to Settings, and under Release grades choose either Immediately after each submission or Later, after manual review. Immediate release shows students their score the moment they submit. Manual release holds scores until you send them from the Responses tab. Here is exactly how both work, and how to fix the common case where students cannot see their scores.
How to Release Scores Immediately After Submission
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Open your form and make sure it is a quiz. In Settings, the Make this a quiz toggle must be on - only quizzes have scores to release.
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Find the Release grades setting. Still in Settings, expand the quiz options and locate Release grades.
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Select "Immediately after each submission". Students now see a View score button on the confirmation screen right after they submit.
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Choose what respondents can see. Below the release setting, toggle whether students see missed questions, correct answers, and point values. For practice quizzes, show everything; for tests you plan to reuse, hide correct answers.
How to Release Scores Later, After Manual Review
Use this when the quiz has short answer or paragraph questions you need to grade by hand, or when you want the whole class to get results at the same time.
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In Settings, set Release grades to "Later, after manual review". Google Forms turns on email collection automatically - it needs each student's address to send their score.
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Grade the responses. In the Responses tab, review each submission and assign points to any question that needs manual grading. If you have a lot of open-ended answers to mark, an AI grader for Google Forms can score them against your rubric first so you only verify.
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Click "Release scores". In the Responses tab, select Release scores, check the boxes next to the respondents, and click Send emails and release. Each student gets an email with their result.
Students Cannot See Their Scores? Check These
- The form is not in quiz mode. Without Make this a quiz turned on, there are no scores at all - answers are just responses.
- No answer key was set. Auto-grading only works on questions with an answer key and point values. Questions without one score zero until you grade them manually. If you still need one, here is how to make an answer key in Google Forms.
- The student closed the confirmation page. With immediate release, the View score button appears right after submission. If response receipts are turned on in Settings, students can also reopen their score from the emailed copy of their response.
- Manual release was selected but scores were never sent. "Later, after manual review" holds every score until you click Release scores in the Responses tab - it never sends on its own.
- Email collection is off in manual mode. Google Forms cannot email a score to a student it has no address for. Check that email collection stayed on and students entered a real address.
Which Release Mode Should Teachers Use?
| Situation | Best setting |
|---|---|
| Practice quiz or exit ticket | Immediately after each submission |
| Test with only auto-graded questions | Immediately, with correct answers hidden |
| Quiz with short answer or essay questions | Later, after manual review |
| Whole class should get results at once | Later, after manual review |
One more time-saver: the slowest part of quiz-based grading is usually building the quiz itself. If your test already exists as a document, convert the PDF or Word file into a Google Forms quiz with the answer key set up, instead of rebuilding it question by question.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I release scores on Google Forms after manual review?
Grade the responses in the Responses tab, click Release scores, check the boxes next to the students, and click Send emails and release. Students receive their score by email.
Why is Google Forms not releasing scores immediately?
Check that Make this a quiz is on and Release grades is set to Immediately after each submission. Students see scores through the View score button after submitting - if they closed that page and response receipts are off, there is no other way back to the score.
Can students see which questions they got wrong?
Only if you allow it. Under the release setting, toggles control whether respondents see missed questions, correct answers, and point values.
Can I release scores to only some students?
Yes. With manual release, the Release scores dialog lets you check exactly which respondents receive their results.
Does releasing scores email the students?
In manual mode, yes - each selected student gets an email. In immediate mode, students view their score on the confirmation screen instead.
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