Pass/Fail Grade Schema in Brightspace

Using a Pass/Fail grade schema in Brightspace allows instructors to assess learner performance which will display a simple Pass or Fail text instead of traditional numeric or letter grades. It can be applied to any grade item. Please note that this is different than the Pass/Fail Grade item type which will only display points possible to learners and not text. 

Access Schemes 

  1. Select More on the Course Navbar. Select Grades.
The More navbar menu with the drop-down menu showing the Grades link.
  1. Select Schemes.
Schemes link on the Grades page.
  1. Select New Scheme. 
Select the New Scheme to create a new grade scheme.

Set up your scheme

1. Enter a Name for the Schema. For example, Pass/Fail Scheme

Name of New Schema.


 2. Under Ranges, enter "Fail" for Range 1 under Symbol. The Symbol is what will appear to students on their Grades page.  Set the Start % and Assigned Value % to 0 (or your chosen failure threshold). Setting a color is optional. This will appear in the Grade Scheme Symbol column on the Grades page for the learner. 

Scheme Range table showing percentages for each symbol.

3. For Range 2, enter "Pass" under Symbol, set Start % to 1 (or your chosen pass threshold), and Assigned Value % to 100. Click Save and Close to apply changes.

Pass Range in Schema

Assign New Schema

Once the Pass/Fail Schema is created, you must assign it to the specific grade item and edit the Student View display options. 

  1. On the Grades page, select Manage Grades link. 
Manage Grades link.

   2. Click on the Name of the Grade item that you want to set as Pass/Fail. 

Grade item name in blue.

  3. On the Edit Items page, scroll down to Grade Scheme and select the Pass/Fail Scheme from the menu. 

Drop down selection to assign new schema.

  4. Under Display Options – Student View, select Override display options for this item. Deselect Points Grade and select Grade Scheme symbol. This will display the Pass/Fail only and not the Points Possible of the assessment. Select Grade Scheme color if a color is assigned in the schema. Select Save and Close. 

Display Options for Grade item.

Student View of Pass/Fail Schema

Once you assign the new schema and enter a score on your end, students will see their grade like this example:

Learner’s Grade Page - 

Pass/Fail schema from student perspective.

For more information and assistance, please email Office of Digital Learning - Learning Management System Support at LMS.faculty@jjay.cuny.edu