Grade bubble sheets from a phone photo, on the forms you already use

Step by step

1. Photograph or scan each sheet. Keep the whole grid in the frame, flat and well lit. iPhone HEIC photos aren't supported, so export those as JPEG first.
2. Choose Many papers. In bulk, each file is one student. If a student's answers run over two sides, put both sides in one PDF.
3. Add your key. Type it in plain words, such as "1-A, 2-D, 3-C", or upload it under Answer key. If the sheets show only bubbles and no questions, upload the question paper too, under Question paper. Set the question type to Multiple choice.
4. Download the class's marks. The CSV has one row per student, with the score, the marks, a Needs review column and one column per question.

Do I need a scanner or special OMR forms to grade bubble sheets?

No. A phone photo is enough, and there are no corner marks to print, forms to design or templates to set up. An AI model looks at the picture of the sheet: column headers and row numbers first, then each row across. It's told not to assume any pattern from neighbouring rows, so a run of Bs says nothing about the next one.

A photo is shrunk to no more than 2,000 pixels along its long edge before it's read, so fill the frame with the grid. Very small bubbles have less detail to work with, so try a dense layout on a few sheets first.

How does it tell a filled bubble from a smudge?

The reader is an AI model told to follow these rules, one question at a time, so it can still misjudge a faint mark.

What happens when two readings of a sheet disagree?

evaleasy takes a third reading of the sheet and the majority wins. Suppose that on a 50-question sheet the first reading sees C on question 27 and the second sees D. If the third sees C, the answer is C.

If the third sees B, no two readings agree, so question 27 earns no marks, nothing is taken off, and the report shows it as Unclear. With flags on, the mark is based on the first reading instead, and the report says "Question 27: readings of the answer disagreed (also read as D, B)" under the heading "A teacher should check this". The Needs review column in the CSV says yes for that student.

What if part of the sheet is cut off in the photo?

Questions in your key that aren't on the paper count as unanswered: 0 marks, and still part of the total. If a photo cuts off rows 46 to 50 of a 50-question sheet, the student can lose those 5 marks with nothing obviously wrong in the rest of the report. The reader notes problems it spots, such as "right margin cut off", but the safest check is to look at the whole grid before you upload.

A photo too blurry or dark to read at all isn't marked, and its credits are refunded automatically.

Common questions

Can it read a roll number bubbled on the sheet?

Not as an identifier. evaleasy reads the name written on the paper and has no separate field for a roll number filled in as bubbles. If no name is written, the report uses the file's name, so name each photo after the student or the roll number.

What does it cost to grade bubble sheets?

evaleasy charges 1 credit per page, however many times the page is read, and a credit costs $0.035 to $0.05 depending on the pack. A class of 40 one-page sheets uses 40 credits. Your key isn't charged.

If I upload the same sheet again, do I get the same marks?

Yes, with the same key. evaleasy saves the reading of identical work and uses it again, and the comparison with your key is done in code. A new photo of the same sheet is a different file, so it's read afresh, and Redo reads a paper afresh too.

How do I test this on my own sheets?

Run a stack of sheets a teacher has already marked, then compare the question columns in the CSV with the teacher's marks. evaleasy doesn't publish an accuracy figure, so include your awkward sheets, such as erasures and light pencil.

Does it connect to my gradebook?

There's no direct connection to Canvas, Moodle or Google Classroom. Download the CSV from the dashboard, or connect your own systems through the evaleasy API and webhooks.