Set up a ThunderForms quiz with answer keys and manual grading

Decide which questions need answer keys. A multiple-choice safety question can grade on submission. A paragraph asking someone to explain a decision needs a reviewer, even when you assign it points. ThunderForms supports both in the same quiz.

Choose questions the grader can check

Automatic answer keys work with single-select, radio-group, multi-select, and text-input questions in plain-text mode, while number inputs and paragraphs need manual grading when they carry points. For a numeric answer you want checked automatically, use a text-input question in plain-text mode and test the exact answer formats you intend to accept.

Text answers are trimmed and compared without case sensitivity. Enter several acceptable answers if needed. A key containing "kilometre" and "kilometer" accepts either spelling, but the grader cannot infer that an explanation means the same thing. Add variants or grade that question manually.

Check the points before publishing

Enable quiz mode in form settings, set the default points, and review each question you plan to score, leaving identifying information such as name ungraded. The recipient email question is excluded.

For example, two choice questions worth two points each and a paragraph worth three make seven possible points, with up to four awarded automatically on submission and the paragraph's three awaiting manual grading. An ungraded paragraph contributes nothing to that total.

Decide when respondents receive their scores

Choose immediate release when every scored question has an automatic key, since scores stay hidden for submissions that have points awaiting manual review. For quizzes needing manual marking, select release after review to send the final result by email.

With release after review, respondents see a pending-review message. Grade manual questions in Responses. Then release the result by email. Release requires a valid address collected through the email question selected in quiz settings. Make it required. Test delivery to your own address.

Try a deliberately wrong submission

Submit a correct test response through the published link, then another with a wrong choice and an incomplete multi-select answer, and compare both totals with your expected scores. For a reviewed quiz, also grade the written answer and check the release email through a real submission because builder preview never sends responses or tests email delivery.

If you are setting up the assessment in Google Forms, follow the Google Forms quiz setup guide for its answer key, grade release, and responder settings.

Write a grading key another reviewer can follow

For a paragraph question, record what earns each point before responses arrive. A two-point explanation might award one point for naming the relevant policy and one for applying it to the example. Share that rubric with every reviewer and grade a sample answer together. If two reviewers interpret the same answer differently, revise the rubric before scoring the cohort.

Thunder Forms' automatic multi-select grading requires the complete correct set, so an extra incorrect option receives no points for that question. When partial credit matters, use manual grading and explain the scoring rule to reviewers. Do not infer a partial score from a percentage of selected options.

Keep a copy of the published question wording and answer key for each assessment round. If you edit a key while people are taking the quiz, the changed form can affect how submitted responses are reviewed. Start a new copy for a later group when the assessment itself changes.

Make distractors and instructions part of the test

A scored question should have one defensible answer under the instructions respondents receive. Read each wrong option as if you were a learner and ask whether it could also be correct in a different context. If a question depends on a specific policy, include that policy or make sure learners have already seen it. Ambiguous choices create grading disputes that a correct answer key cannot fix.

Have someone who did not write the quiz take it without coaching. Ask them to explain what they thought each question meant. Revise unclear wording, then test the saved version with one correct response, one wrong response, a blank required field, and a manually graded answer. Keep the test records out of the response set for the actual class or assessment.

Keep your test responses separate from the cohort you will grade.