Extending Deadlines for Excused Work

Last updated on January 8, 2024

Tool: Assignments, Quizzes, and Discussions

As instructors, you want to provide your students with the best chance at succeeding in your courses. To this point, chances are you have had a student ask for a deadline extension. Maybe the student needed accommodations in your course, or maybe life (or in some cases technology) just got in the way of the student’s time management.

Regardless of the reason, if you decide to excuse your student’s late work, Canvas provides options for extending assessment deadlines for just one student (You read that correctly! You can extend a deadline for a single student without changing the deadline for the rest of the class.).

Extending assessment deadlines for individuals lets you grade and give feedback to your students without being penalized or losing access to an assignment, quiz, or discussion because they are past the deadline set in Canvas. It also lets you provide your students with additional opportunities to be successful in your course when they need some flexibility.

Best Practices

• Have and communicate a consistent deadline-extension policy in place to prevent inequities in class.
• Provide feedback to students even though their work is submitted late.
• Encourage your student to make use of campus resources such as the Writing Center or TutorMe (available 24/7 through Canvas) if they need help completing an assessment.

Let’s walk through it together

Extending a Due Date in Assignments

1. Navigate to the Module with the assignment with the due date you wish to extend.
2. Open the Assignment. 
3. Click Edit (pencil icon) at the top right. 
4. Scroll to Assign at the bottom of the screen.
5. Click + Add.
6. Select the Student you wish to extend the due date for.
7. Add the New Due Date.
8. Add Available From and Until dates, as necessary.
9. Click Save.

Extending a Due Date in Classic Quizzes

1. Scroll to the Module where your Quiz is located.
2. Click the Name of the classic quiz you wish to provide accommodations for.
   1. Note: Classic Quizzes have a rocket icon that has a grey (unpublished) or green (published) outline with white inside, and New Quizzes have a solid grey (unpublished) or green (published) rocket icon.
   2. Note: If you set Availability Dates for the quiz, they will take precedence over any accommodations or due date extensions. This can result in a student’s quiz being auto-submitted before their extended time accommodation has expired.
3. Click Edit.
4. Scroll down to the quiz’s Assign setting.
5. Click + Add.
6. Click the Assign To box in the new section that appears.
7. Select the Student you wish to extend the due date for.
8. Add the New Due Date.
9. Remove or adjust Available From and Until dates, as necessary.
10. Click Save.

Extend a Due Date in New Quizzes

1. Go to the Module where your Quiz is located.
2. Click the Name of the new quiz you wish to provide accommodations for.
   1. Note: Classic Quizzes have a rocket icon that has a grey (unpublished) or green (published) outline with white inside, and New Quizzes have a solid grey (unpublished) or green (published) rocket icon.
   2. Note: If you set Availability Dates for the quiz, they will take precedence over any accommodations or due date extensions. This can result in a student’s quiz being auto-submitted before their extended time accommodation has expired.
3. Scroll down to the quiz’s Assign setting.
4. Click + Add.
5. Click the Assign To box in the new section that appears.
6. Select the Student you wish to extend the due date for.
7. Add the New Due Date.
8. Remove or adjust Available From and Until dates, as necessary.
9. Click Save.

Extending a Due Date in Discussions

1. Navigate to the Module with the discussion with the due date you wish to extend.
2. Open the Discussion. 
3. Click Edit (pencil icon) at the top right. 
4. Scroll to Assign at the bottom of the screen.
5. Click + Add.
6. Select the Student you wish to extend the due date for.
7. Add the New Due Date.
8. Add Available From and Until dates, as necessary.

Have questions?

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