Sussex moves assessment feedback to Canvas after students report confusion
Updated Aug 23, 2026
One confusing assessment journey can weaken the value of the feedback students receive and their confidence that the university has heard them. On 19 August 2026, the University of Sussex announced changes to submitting assessments and receiving feedback after students reported confusion from using multiple systems. From 2026/27, online assessment submission, marking, and feedback will move from Turnitin into Canvas. The Sussex assessment feedback change matters for Student Experience teams, PVCs, and quality professionals because it turns students' reports of everyday friction into an institution-wide workflow change. It also adds a concrete action to Sussex's earlier work on module evaluations and PTES feedback.
What has changed in Sussex's assessment feedback system
From the start of the 2026/27 academic year, Turnitin will no longer be Sussex's submission and feedback platform. Students will submit online assessments and access tutor feedback through Canvas, the university's virtual learning environment, while staff will mark work there. Sussex says the aim is a more consistent experience with fewer systems to navigate.
The linked current submission guidance describes the mixed workflow being replaced. Most online assessments currently use Turnitin within Canvas, while some use Canvas's own submission and marking process. The August announcement therefore brings the main stages of the assessment journey into one platform rather than asking students to move between different interfaces.
"Feedback from students has highlighted that using multiple systems for assessment can sometimes be confusing and more difficult to navigate."
The change does not remove academic integrity checks. Sussex says similarity checking will remain available where required, including opportunities for draft checking. Existing submissions and feedback will remain accessible. Updated student guidance is due before teaching begins, and staff will receive training and support throughout September. The scope is specific to online assessment at one English university; it is an institutional change, not a new sector requirement.
What this means for institutions
The first implication is that the assessment interface is part of feedback quality. A clear tutor comment has less value if a student is unsure where to find it, whether it has been released, or which system holds the final version. Institutions reviewing assessment and feedback should therefore test the complete journey from submission to mark release and feed-forward, not only the wording and turnaround time of comments. The practical takeaway is simple: fewer hand-offs can make feedback easier to find and use.
The second implication is that two feedback loops are involved. Sussex is changing the assessment feedback it gives to students because of feedback it received from students about the process. Quality teams should preserve that link by documenting which evidence prompted the change, who approved it, and how the university will judge whether the new workflow is clearer. A student comment analysis governance checklist can help teams record that evidence trail before a system change becomes a broad claim about student experience.
The third implication is implementation discipline. Moving an institution-wide workflow affects accessibility, staff training, moderation, helpdesk demand, data retention, and the timing of mark and feedback release. Sussex has already confirmed that existing records will remain available and that similarity checking will continue. Other institutions considering a similar change should also define baseline measures, such as assessment-related support requests, reported access problems, and student confidence in finding feedback. The benefit is a post-change review based on evidence rather than an assumption that consolidation automatically improved the experience.
How student feedback analysis connects
Platform friction often appears in open comments before it becomes visible in a headline score. Students may describe difficulty finding feedback, inconsistent practices between modules, unclear submission routes, or inaccessible documents in NSS comments, module evaluations, and local surveys. A structured NSS open-text analysis methodology helps institutions test whether those comments form a recurring cross-course issue or a local problem, while retaining the context needed for human review. The takeaway is to diagnose the scale and location of the problem before selecting a technical response.
For large comment sets, Student Voice Analytics can group assessment, feedback-access, and digital-system themes consistently across surveys and organisational levels. In this case, the useful institutional question is not whether Canvas or Turnitin is universally better. It is whether students report less confusion, find feedback more reliably, and use it more effectively after the change.
FAQ
Q: What should institutions do now if students report confusion across assessment systems?
A: Map the student journey from submission to feedback access, then review open comments and support requests for repeated points of friction. Check whether the problem is institution-wide or concentrated in particular modules, assessment types, or student groups. If a workflow change is justified, set baseline measures and agree who will review the evidence after implementation.
Q: What is the timeline and scope of the Sussex change?
A: Sussex published the announcement on 19 August 2026. The new process begins at the start of the 2026/27 academic year and applies to online assessment submission, marking, and feedback at the University of Sussex. Staff training and support will run throughout September, and updated student guidance is due before teaching starts. Existing submissions and feedback will remain available, while similarity and draft checking will continue where required.
Q: What is the broader implication for student voice?
A: Student voice becomes more credible when institutions can show a traceable route from a reported problem to a specific operational change. The next step is to listen again after implementation. That closes the loop and tests whether students experienced the intended improvement rather than merely receiving a new system announcement.
References
[University of Sussex]: "Returning students: changes to submitting assessments and receiving feedback in 2026/27" Published: 2026-08-19
[University of Sussex]: "Submitting work to Turnitin and Canvas" Published: not stated
Request a walkthrough
Book a free Student Voice Analytics demo
See all-comment coverage, sector benchmarks, and reporting designed for OfS quality and NSS requirements.
- All-comment coverage with HE-tuned taxonomy and sentiment.
- Versioned outputs with TEF-ready reporting.
- Benchmarks and BI-ready exports for boards and Senate.
UK-hosted · No public LLM APIs · Same-day turnaround