Submitting work to a Blackboard Assignment is generally very straightforward:
- Click on the Assignment title
- Browse for the file or files you want to upload
- Press Submit.
The procedure is explained in our guide How to submit to a Blackboard Assignment.
This page explains how the system works
- if you choose the Save Draft option
- or where your lecturer has allowed you to make multiple attempts.
Multiple Attempts
What is an Attempt?
An attempt is created when you press Submit on the Upload Assignment screen. This submits your assignment and Blackboard calls this an attempt.
Submitting multiple files to an assignment is not the same as making multiple attempts:
- Unlike a Turnitin Assignment, you can submit more than one file to a Blackboard Assignment, as part of the same attempt.
- You can submit different sorts of files – Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, JPEGs, MP3s, computer code – and these can be uploaded at the same time to make one attempt.
- Each file will need to be added individually by clicking on ‘Browse Local Files’ on the Upload Files screen.
- Regardless of how many files you upload, when you press Submit, this is an ‘Attempt’.
In general, if you are required to submit multiple files, you should upload and submit them all at once – when you submit an Attempt, that attempt should contain all the files which are to be marked.
If you want to upload a few files, then come back later to upload some more you should press Save Draft (see below) rather than Submit.
Am I allowed to make multiple attempts?
Blackboard doesn’t give you any indication to say whether an Assignment has been set up to accept multiple attempts.
If your lecturers have not made this explicit in the assignment instructions, please check the settings with them.
How do I make a second attempt?
Go back into the Assignment and click on the link to open it. You will see a screen called ‘Review Submission History’.
A preview of your assignment will be shown on the left (if you submitted a Word, PDF, PowerPoint or Excel file).
In the right hand panel under SUBMISSION you will see a list of the files you uploaded as part of your previous Attempt.
If you are allowed to make an additional Attempt, you will see Start New on the right-hand side of the screen.
Press Start New and then upload all of the files required for the assessment.
N.B. Make sure you upload all of the files that are required for your assignment in the new attempt, even if you are just editing one of the files.
Remember: each attempt should contain all of the files which are to be marked.
The staff member marking your work will only look at your final attempt, and if this only has some of the required files, you are liable to lose marks or even fail the assessment.
Draft submissions
Saving a Draft submission
When you go into a Blackboard Assignment on the Upload Assignment screen – even before you have uploaded any files – you will see three buttons Cancel, Save Draft and Submit:
- Cancel – press this button to leave the assignment without submitting any work
- Submit – press this button when you are ready to submit your assignment file or files for your tutor to see.
- Save Draft – press this button if you have uploaded files required for the assignment but want to come back to them later before finally submitting. This option will let you remove existing files, re-upload files or add files to your assignment.
Completing a Draft submission
When you Save a Draft, you will see the blue ‘Attempt in Progress’ icon:
The file(s) you have uploaded will not be visible to staff marking the assignment until you Submit the Attempt.
To do this, go back into the assignment, and click on Continue.
You will then be able to
- remove previously uploaded files
- upload additional files
When done, you can Save Draft again. Or, if you have now uploaded all required files, press Submit.
You will find further guidance on the Blackboard Help site: Submit Assignments
