Mark handwritten exam papers from scans and phone photos
evaleasy is an AI grader for handwritten exams. It reads scans and phone photos of students' writing twice, writes down what's on the page, mistakes included, and marks from that reading. Words it can't read are recorded as [illegible], the model is told to give them no credit, and you can have specific doubts flagged for a teacher.
Updated
How does an AI grader read handwritten exams?
evaleasy looks at each page and writes down what's there, without judging it. The reader is told to copy mistakes and misspellings as they stand and never to fix, finish or correct anything, and it doesn't see the answers in your key. Marking then happens from that written reading, which the report shows page by page under "What we read", so you can check it against the paper.
Each page is read twice. On chosen options and blanks, the two readings are compared and a third is taken if they differ. Longer written answers aren't compared word for word, because a reading's wording can vary, so check "What we read" first if a mark on one seems off.
How is each thing on the page recorded?
The reading follows set conventions, so you can tell the student's writing from anything uncertain or printed.
| On the paper | In the reading | What it means for marks |
|---|---|---|
| A misspelt word | Copied as written | Judged under your strictness setting |
| Crossed-out work | Struck-through text | Stays visible. On options, the surviving mark counts |
| A word that can't be read | [illegible] | The model is told to give it no credit |
| A word it's unsure of | [?word] | The model is told to accept a plausible reading |
| A diagram or graph | [figure: ...] with labels, values and axes | Marked from that description |
| Printed text | Labelled PRINTED | Kept apart from the student's writing |
What happens to crossed-out work and illegible words?
Crossed-out work stays in the reading as struck-through text, and the model is told to give illegible words no credit. Say a student writes "Plants need sunlight to make food". If the reader can't make out the third word, the reading says "Plants need [illegible] to make food", and the model is told not to give credit for it. If the reader is unsure but has a good idea, the reading says "[?sunlight]", and the model is told to accept a plausible reading.
There's no fixed rule that struck-through writing earns nothing on a written answer. If you want one, add it to your instructions, such as "Ignore crossed-out work". The model is told your rule overrides the strictness setting.
What gets flagged if I turn flags on?
By default there are no flags: every answer gets a final mark. Switch off Mark everything under Marking options, and evaleasy flags specific doubts about a reading or a mark, and lists them at the top of the report under "A teacher should check this". The paper gets a Needs review badge.
- "Question 7: low confidence in the reading": on a question compared with your key, the reader had to guess at a word or a mark
- "Question 3: readings of the answer disagreed": no majority on an option or a blank, with what else was read
- "Parts of the paper were hard to read": legibility came out as poor, on a scale of good, fair, poor and unreadable
- "Question 9: low confidence in the mark": on a question the model marked, the reader had to guess or the marking passes all gave different marks
How should I photograph handwritten papers?
Take one flat, well-lit photo per page, with the whole page in the frame.
- Fill the frame with the page. Anything over 2,000 pixels on the long edge is scaled down, so background takes detail away from the writing
- Don't worry about sideways photos: they're turned upright using the orientation your phone stored
- Export iPhone HEIC photos as JPEG, because HEIC isn't supported. JPEG, PNG and WebP are
- For one student, use One paper and add the photos in order. For a class, put each student's pages into one file, since each file in a bulk upload is one student
- Keep each file to 20 MB and each paper to 30 pages
Common questions
- How messy can the handwriting be?
- evaleasy doesn't publish a limit or an accuracy figure. Try it on some of your hardest papers that a teacher has already marked, and compare. The reading is shown page by page, so you can see whether a lost mark came from the reading or the marking.
- What happens to a paper that can't be read at all?
- evaleasy doesn't mark it. The report says the pages couldn't be read and asks for clearer, well-lit photos or scans, and the credits are refunded automatically. If a typed answer came with those pages, that answer is marked alone and the report says so.
- Can it read a student's name from the paper?
- Yes, when a name is written on it. In a bulk upload, a paper with no name it can read is named after its file.
- Can it mark diagrams and graphs?
- evaleasy describes each diagram in words, with its labels, values, axes, shapes and arrows, and the model marks from that description. If diagrams carry a lot of marks, check a few reports closely first.
- What does a handwritten exam cost to mark?
- evaleasy charges 1 credit per page, whatever the questions are. A 12-page answer booklet uses 12 credits, which costs $0.42 to $0.60 depending on your pack.
- My students write each question out, then answer it. Does that work?
- Yes. Set the question type to Questions and answers, and the reader is told that each question is written on the sheet with its answer below it, and to record the two separately.
Your next stack of papers doesn't have to be your problem.
Signing up is free. Marking uses credits, at 1 credit per page.