What's changing and when?

From the start of the 2026/27 academic year, Turnitin Feedback Studio will no longer be used for submission, marking, or feedback in Canvas.

• Canvas SpeedGrader will be the tool used for marking all assignments submitted to Canvas. 

• You will still have the option to generate Turnitin similarity reports, these will also now be able to support multiple files in a submission. 

• Students will see all of their feedback for online submissions in Canvas Speedgrader.

To ensure continuity for students within the current academic year, this switchover in Canvas will not happen until after the A3 assessment period. No assignments should be added to 26/27 modules before Educational Enhancement communicate that the system is ready.

Why is this happening?

1. Improving student and staff experience: Submitting work and receiving feedback across multiple platforms can be confusing for students. Reducing this complexity will make the process simpler for everyone. The change also avoids accessibility issues with Turnitin Feedback Studio.

2. Addressing technical issues: To enable our marking workflows, the current Turnitin set-up uses out-dated technology which must be replaced to avoid future problems with assessment.

3. Reducing service disruption risk: Turnitin has been unreliable during busy periods. Using it only for Similarity Scores lowers the impact on students and staff during critical submission and marking periods.

How you will be supported.

Assessment set up:

• Learning Technologists are working with colleagues across the institution to ensure assessment set up is as seamless as possible for 26/27. 

• We will provide guidance and support for the set-up of all assignments once the system is ready after the A3 resit assessment period.

• No assignments should be added to 26/27 modules before Educational Enhancement communicate that the system is ready. Our module set-up guides explain how to import modules without assignments.

• Canvas quizzes are not affected, and can be set up on 26/27 modules as normal.

Marking:

Our webpages and self-service Marking and Feedback course will be updated once the system is ready after the A3 resit assessment period. Before then, Learning Technologists, working with our Academic Developers, are available to support academic staff to explore how to use Canvas Speedgrader to provide feedback, and academic staff can request this support via this MS Form.

Rubrics:

Existing rubrics shared within Faculties, Schools, and Departments will be converted to Canvas format and made available for use on Canvas assignments. Module convenors can use this MS Form to request support to convert their personal Turnitin rubrics and grading forms into the Canvas format.

QuickMarks:

Whilst SpeedGrader doesn't offer QuickMarks, academic staff who use QuickMarks can use this MS Form to request a download of those Quickmarks to Excel, so that they can be used when marking in Canvas.

We know this is a big change for some and we're here to help. Please reach out with any questions to EE@Sussex.ac.uk. Our Marking and Feedback self-study course along with associated FAQs, will be updated with more information over the summer.

Note: If your module doesn't follow the standard academic year, please contact EE@sussex.ac.uk so that we can provide tailored support.

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