What it marks

Mark maths tests by value, not by how the answer looks

A maths answer can be right in more than one shape. Three quarters is 3/4, 6/8 or 0.75; a student who copies the line from the board writes x = 107 where your key says 107. AutoMark is a maths test marker that reads the handwritten number, works out its value and marks that against your key, then flags what it can't verify for you to check.

Numbers are marked as values

Give a question the numeric type and type the answer as a number. From then on AutoMark compares values, which is how you'd mark it by hand:

Fractions and decimals agree. On a key of 3/4, the answers 3/4, 6/8 and 0.75 are all correct. Mixed numbers are read as values too, so 1 1/2 is one and a half.
"x =" is notation. A key or an answer written as x = 107 is marked on the 107. The letter in front doesn't need to match the key.
Commas mean thousands. 1,200 is twelve hundred. A comma that isn't followed by exactly three digits, like 3,4, isn't guessed at: the answer comes to you to check.
Units are part of the answer. If your key says 5 cm, the same value in the same unit is correct and a different unit is marked wrong. If AutoMark can't see a unit on the paper, the answer comes to you with a note to check the crop.
Close enough, within a tolerance you set. Each numeric question has a tolerance, so a measurement or an estimate can be marked correct within a range. A new account starts with a tolerance of 0.5, and it applies to fractions too: at 0.5, a key of 3/4 would also accept 1/2 and 1. For a fractions test, or whenever only the exact value will do, set the default to zero in Settings before you add the questions; questions already in a test keep the tolerance they were created with.

Where the form is the skill being tested, say so in the key. If the question asks students to simplify a fraction, a numeric key would accept the unsimplified one, so use a short answer with the simplest form as the key instead. Writing an answer key for automatic marking goes through these decisions question by question.

Times tables, number facts and tables

A times tables sheet is a grid of small numeric answers, which is exactly the shape AutoMark is built for. Set it up as a table question: the factors you print are given, the answer cells are blank, and each cell is marked on its own with its own mark, so one slip costs one mark and not the row. The same table question covers a frequency table, a table of values for a linear relationship, or measurement results.

A number facts quiz, a mental maths sheet or a Year 7 numeracy check works the same way as a list of numeric questions. Multiple choice sits on the same paper: students write the letter of their choice in the box beside the question, with no bubble sheet (more on multiple choice).

Working out, and the marks you award yourself

AutoMark marks the answer, not the method. Where the working earns marks, add a long-answer question for it, with your marking notes in place of a key. The final answer is marked against your key as usual, and the working comes to you in review with the student's handwriting on screen beside your notes. You type the mark, halves included, and move on. Nothing on that question is marked until you mark it.

That split suits a typical Year 9 test: the answers with a definite value mark through, and your attention goes to the reasoning, which is where it belongs.

What the review moment looks like

Every reading is checked back against the scan, and the check passes or it doesn't. A flagged answer is a card with the crop of the actual paper beside what AutoMark read and what your key expects. C confirms, O overrides so you set the mark yourself. If a student's answer is right and your key didn't list it, Also correct adds it to the key and re-marks the run against it, so you only make that decision once.

A 1 that might be a 7, a decimal point that might be a stray mark, a crossed-out answer with a second one beside it: these are the cases the check is there for. When a reading can't be verified against the ink, it comes to you rather than being guessed. You confirm every mark before it's recorded.

What you get afterwards

Once a run is committed, the class view shows which questions the class lost marks on and who missed each, so you can see that the fraction questions went well and the ratio ones didn't. Each student carries their results across every test they've sat, and any run exports to CSV for your markbook. Using question-level results to plan reteaching covers what to do with that view.

What it won't do

It doesn't mark drawings. A graph to sketch, a construction, a shape to draw: set those up as questions you mark yourself, and the crop is on screen while you do.
It doesn't check algebra. AutoMark doesn't work out whether two expressions are equal. An expression answer is best set as a question you mark yourself; a short answer can forgive a one-character slip, and in algebra one character is the whole answer.
A number written as a word may be accepted. If a student writes twelve on a numeric question, AutoMark can read it as 12 and mark it correct without flagging it. The crop shows what was written, so check those answers if writing the numeral matters.
A figure the scan can't show is a figure it can't read. Faint pencil, a trimmed edge, a cramped answer box: when AutoMark can't verify the reading, it asks you rather than guessing. Give each answer room and ask for pen where you can.

Scans, results and backups stay in Australia, and scan images purge automatically once past their retention window while marks are kept. Reading the paper involves an overseas processing step by our OCR provider. What is sent and why: the student data page and the privacy policy.

Questions teachers ask

Does it mark the working or just the final answer?

The final answer is marked against your key. Working is a question you mark yourself: AutoMark puts it in front of you with your marking notes, and the mark you type is the one recorded.

Can a student write the answer in a different form from my key?

On a numeric question, yes, as long as the value matches within the question's tolerance: a fraction, its decimal, an equivalent fraction or x = in front. If the form matters, use a short answer instead, so only the forms you list are accepted.

What does a maths test cost to mark?

One credit marks one scanned page, so a two-page Year 8 test for a class of 26 is 52 credits. Pages are estimated against your balance before anything is read, so a run starts or tells you it can't. Numbers on the pricing page.

Does it work for practice tests?

For the ones you write, yes. AutoMark supplies no papers or test content. Marking NAPLAN-style practice tests covers setting a numeracy practice paper of your own.

What about the rest of the paper?

Short written answers, fill-the-blanks, matching and ordering all sit on the same paper and mark in the same run. The general case: marking handwritten tests, and the FAQ.

Mark your next class set in minutes.

Free for one month, then $16.50 a month plus $1.10 per student. Every mark stays yours to confirm.