Guide overview
This guide will explain how to submit to a Blackboard assignment submission point, check submitted work and access feedback and grading.
Please note that submission point settings may vary, and this guide does not cover all possible configurations. Additionally, access to submission points, as well as to feedback and grading, may be restricted at certain stages of the assignment workflow. Please also visit the following Blackboard help pages for the most up to date and detailed guidance; Bb Ultra Assignment help pages.
It is the student’s responsibility to check they are satisfied with any documents uploaded and that they have submitted correctly. Penalties may apply for incorrect or late submission. We strongly advise that you familiarise yourself with this Blackboard submission guide well in advance of your assignment deadlines.
Essential guidance before submission
- Ensure a file is not still open on your device when you choose to upload it. If it is open this can result in issues with uploading correctly.
- Do not add any external links to a submission text box (such as a link to a Word document saved to your One Drive). Do not copy and paste any content or write directly in a submission text box.
- If possible, do not submit work just before any deadline is due. This will ensure you have given yourself enough time to resolve issues / contact the relevant staff contact if you encounter any technical issues or have any queries about the assignment.
- Ensure you have read all assignment instructions and descriptions, as well as potential additional instructions received via other staff communications (such as via course announcements or accompanying documents).
- Ensure you submit assignments from a laptop / PC with a stable Internet connection. Do not attempt to submit work from a mobile device (browser or via the Bb app).
- Please see the following Blackboard browser support help page; Blackboard browser support guidance.
- Only Word (.doc and .docx) and Acrobat (.pdf) file formats should be used for text based assignments. If you are not using Microsoft Word to create your document then you may need to ‘save as’ and select either the .doc, .docx or .pdf file format as the file type for your document to be saved as.
- Keep file names as concise as possible while still being meaningful (there is a maximum limit to file names in Blackboard). Only use dashes (-) or underscores (_) for punctuation. Characters such as ampersands (&) or + signs will cause problems when uploaded, usually resulting in an error. Instead of punctuation, you could capitalise the first letter of each individual word in the file name, this makes file names without spaces easy to read e.g., ThisIsMyFile.doc. Examples of good file names: EssayTitle_draft.doc, myFileNameFINAL.docx, essay-title_final.pdf.
You can check and reduce the size of your work. This may be necessary when submitting files to Blackboard. You can check on the size of your existing files by: PC – hover your mouse pointer over a file to see the current file size, or right click on the file and choose properties. Mac – click on a file to select it and use ⌘ + i
You can resize images before embedding them into your work. Please access the following links to some quick guides on how to do this with several common applications; Resize using Microsoft Paint, Resize using GIMP (free software), Resize using PIXLR (free online app). You can also reduce PDF file size. Please access the following link for further guidance; reduce PDF file size.
File size compression may result in some loss of quality so be careful about compressing too much. It may require a bit of trial and error to get the right balance between file size and quality.
Access a submission point
- Click on the following link to access HYMS Blackboard: https://blackboard.hyms.ac.uk.
Authentication is via HYMS Microsoft 365 account details. Click on Sign-in with Microsoft and enter your HYMS email address and password. Please access the following link to further guidance: log in to HYMS Blackboard.- Once logged in, the HYMS Blackboard homepage will display. Select the courses option from the left-hand ultra base navigation menu.
- From the courses page you can search and select the relevant course. You can select from the listed content or by using the search engine at the top of the page.
- Locate the assignment submission point on the course content page or within the relevant folder / subfolder.
You can also access assignments in the activity stream (or in the Blackboard calendar if the assignment has a due date).
- After you click on an assignment submission point, key information will display (such as the due date, number of attempts allowed, and any grading criteria / rubric). Click on view instructions to open the assignment submission page.
Before you click on view instructions please check if you will be able to attempt more than once and / or if there is a time limit restriction once you have started.
Submit an assignment
If there is a submission text box included on the submission page do not enter content into it. Do not add any external links (such as a link to a Word document saved to your One Drive) or copy and paste any content / write directly into the submission text box.
Furthermore, do not select to ‘upload from cloud’ from the submission box (see image below).
Please see the below guidance for the accepted standard submission workflow at Hull York Medical School.
- From the submission page you can submit your assignment via the submission box. You can either drag and drop a file or select to upload a file. As stated above, do not select to upload from cloud.
- You can drag and drop files from your computer directly into the submission box.
- Or select to upload a file. You can then select the correct document from your device.
Ensure a file is not still open on your device when you choose to upload it. If it is open this can result in issues with uploading correctly.
- The uploaded document will then appear below the submission box.
- Click on the document to see a preview below the submission box. You can select the delete icon if you wish to remove the document.
- If you are happy with your uploaded document select submit from the bottom right-hand corner.
We do not advise that you save work and return to the submission point later to submit. We advise you complete all steps during one attempt.
- You will then be prompted again to submit. Select submit again.
- You will then see a success message with a copy of your receipt which you can download as an additional record of submission.
Please now proceed to read the next step of this guide –check an assignment has successfully submitted * essential step
Check submission
It is the student’s responsibility to check they are satisfied with any documents uploaded and that they have submitted correctly. Penalties may apply for incorrect or late submission.
As mentioned in the previous step, a ‘success’ message will appear after submission. This indicates successful upload. However, there are additional checks you now need to complete.
- Ensure that any uploaded content appears as expected on the submission page after submission. Click on the submission point link again. Then select the attempt submitted.
- Check the submission appears as expected.
- In very exceptional circumstances documents may not display correctly online. If this occurs tutors will download the original file you submitted. You can check your original file is correct by clicking on the download icon in the top right-hand corner of the preview of your submission. Then select download original file.
- Check your submission receipt. Upon successful submission, a receipt is generated and will be sent to your HYMS email account. You can run a general search of your emails if it does not appear as a new email in your inbox. Search for the key words ‘assignment submitted’ or from sender ‘donotreply@blackboard.com’.
Please ensure you check details such as the submission size in the receipt – that this is as expected. In particular, that there has been no error during upload resulting in an issue such as an empty document upload (the submission size would say ‘0 bytes’ if this had occurred).
Feedback and grading
There are several routes to access feedback and grading once it is made available.
The original submission point link
Click back on the link to the submission point from the relevant course. Select your marked attempt under marks/ attempts.
Any feedback and grading will be displayed alongside the submitted work. You may see a numerical or descriptive mark in the top right-hand corner of the page (1 in the image below). You may also see overall written feedback underneath the mark in the right-hand side panel (2 in the image below).
There may also be grading / written feedback via a rubric in the right-hand side panel (which in turn may determine the overall grading value in the top-right hand corner of the page). The school primarily uses rubrics on Postgraduate Taught Programmes. A rubric allows for a mark and / or written feedback for each assessment criterion. Each criterion may contribute to the overall percentage of the assessment mark. The weighting may differ for each criterion. 
The notification of a posted mark via the Activity stream
You may also see a notification of a posted mark for an assignment via the Blackboard activity stream. Double click on view my mark to be taken to the gradebook view of the relevant course. You can then navigate to the relevant marked submission.
The Marks link via the Blackboard homepage
Another route is via the marks option on the homepage menu.
Once you have clicked on marks, click on the relevant listed course and navigate to the relevant marked submission.
The Gradebook course menu item
It is also possible to select the gradebook directly from the course navigation menu and then navigate to the relevant marked submission.
From the gradebook, locate the relevant submission and select view to access feedback and grading.
For queries regarding assignment content, deadlines, or mitigating and exceptional circumstances, please contact the relevant academic, Programme Delivery team (phase1@hyms.ac.uk, phase2@hyms.ac.uk, phase3@hyms.ac.uk), or Assessments team (undergraduate – exams@hyms.ac.uk, postgraduate – postgraduate@hyms.ac.uk).
For technical queries please contact the Learning Enhancement and Systems team at help@hyms.ac.uk.