Blackboard Quiz Answers: When Correct Answers Are Released

Blackboard shows quiz and test answers only after you submit, and only in the form your instructor chooses. In Blackboard Ultra courses, correct answers are hidden by default and released from the test's Assessment results settings: after your individual grade is posted, after the due date, after all grades are posted, or on a specific date. In Original courses, the instructor sets up to two rules under Show Test Results and Feedback to Students. If you see a score but no answers, the settings are doing their job, and this guide explains which one is responsible.

Last verified: October 12, 2026 against the official documentation linked below.

How Blackboard tests work

Blackboard calls most quizzes tests. Your institution runs Blackboard courses in one of two course views. Ultra is the current design, where tests live in Course Content and open in a panel with a settings sidebar for instructors. Original is the older design, with content areas in a left-hand course menu and a separate Test Options page. Many universities have courses in both views during a migration, so you may meet both in the same term. If you want to understand what actually changes between the two (question types, presentation, pools and timers), read our companion piece, Blackboard Ultra vs Classic: how tests and reviews differ.

In both views a test is scored automatically for objective questions such as multiple choice, true/false, matching and fill in the blank. Essay and file response questions wait for the instructor. What you see afterwards comes down to a small set of release settings, which are the subject of this guide.

Where correct answers legitimately appear in Blackboard

• Your submission review. Reopen the test after submitting (from Course Content, or from your grades) to see your submission, scores per question, correct answers and feedback, as far as the settings allow.
• Automated question feedback. Instructors can write separate feedback for correct and incorrect answers, which Blackboard releases according to its own timing.
• Practice and self-assessment tests. Ultra lets instructors label a test as a Formative assessment. Original lets them exclude a test from Grade Center calculations so it works as a self-assessment. These are the tests where answers are most often shown right away.
• Your instructor. When answers are held back, asking which concepts you missed is always legitimate and usually the fastest way to improve.

There is no legitimate way to see the answer key of a graded test before you submit it. Scoring happens on Blackboard's servers, and the settings below decide what is returned to you.

Blackboard Ultra: the Assessment results settings

In an Ultra test, the instructor opens the Settings panel and scrolls to Assessment results. Anthology's Assessment Results documentation lists four controls:

Submission view

Whether you can open your submitted test at all. The default is Available after submission. Other choices: after your individual grade is posted, after the due date, after all grades are posted, on a specific date, or view submission one time. The instructor can also turn off Allow students to view their submission entirely, in which case you still see your overall grade and assessment feedback but not the questions.

Automated question feedback

Pre-written Correct answer feedback and Incorrect answer feedback on auto-graded questions. By default it appears after submission. Anthology notes that when correct answers are shown, feedback must be released at the same time or earlier.

Question scores

Points per question. The default is Available after all grades are posted, with alternatives of after your individual grade is posted, after the due date, or on a specific date.

Correct answers

Hidden by default. The instructor selects Turn on setting under Correct Answers and chooses when they appear: after your individual grade is posted, after the due date, after all grades are posted, or on a specific date. When answers are pending, students who reopen the test see a banner explaining that the instructor will reveal the correct answers after all students have submitted.

Blackboard Original: Show Test Results and Feedback to Students

In an Original course, the instructor opens the test's menu, selects Edit the Test Options and scrolls to Show Test Results and Feedback to Students. According to Anthology's Original test and survey options, they can set one or two rules. Each rule has a When menu:

• After Submission (the default)
• One-time View: results are shown once; when you navigate away, everything except your score is restricted
• On Specific Date
• After Due Date
• After Availability End Date
• After Attempts are graded: only once every student has submitted and every attempt is graded

And a set of checkboxes for what is shown:

• Score per Question (on by default for tests)
• All Answers: every answer option
• Correct: the correct answers
• Submitted: your own answers
• Feedback: instructor feedback per question; without it, feedback written while grading stays hidden from you
• Show Incorrect Questions: flags what you missed without revealing the answer

If nothing is changed, students see their overall score and the score for each question. A common pattern in Anthology's own examples is a first rule of One-time View with Show Incorrect Questions, so you know what to review, and a second rule of After Due Date with everything enabled. If rules conflict, Blackboard grants the more permissive one.

Your overall test score is always visible in Original unless the instructor hides the Grade Center column. If the column is hidden, you see nothing in My Grades and only the submission time on the test itself.

What students see, by setting

How to find your test results as a student

1. In an Ultra course, open the test from Course Content (or from the course gradebook) and select your submitted attempt. In an Original course, open the test from its content area or go to My Grades and select the test.
2. Look at what the page shows: your answers, scores per question, correct answers, feedback. Whatever is missing has been held back by one of the settings above.
3. Check the test details or course announcements for a release date. Instructors who use After Due Date or a specific date often announce when the review opens.
4. If the review is a one-time view, read it fully before you leave the page and note the concept behind every question you missed.

Why your Blackboard answers might be hidden

• Not everyone has finished. Ultra's pending-answers banner says it directly: answers come after all students submit. Extended-time accommodations and late windows push that back.
• Essays still need grading. Releases tied to grades being posted wait for manual grading, including on other students' tests.
• Question pools are reused. Instructors who draw random questions from a pool every term often never release correct answers and review results in class instead.
• Multiple attempts. Releasing answers after attempt one would make attempt two meaningless, so instructors show scores per question or incorrect questions instead.

If your instructor promised a review and nothing appears, check the date in the test details or announcements first, then ask. Settings are easy to misconfigure, and instructors usually appreciate a polite heads-up.

What instructors can see about your test attempt

Students searching for answers often also wonder what is visible on the other side. Anthology documents a Student Activity report that shows when each student opened, started and submitted a test, in both Ultra and Original courses. Original also shows completion time in each submission, and timed tests without auto-submit are marked when they run over. Anything beyond that, such as a proctoring service or LockDown Browser, is something your instructor adds and announces in the test instructions.

How to study for Blackboard tests

• Use every formative or practice test. They exist for you to make mistakes cheaply, and they are the tests most likely to show correct answers immediately.
• Read the review the moment it opens. With One-time View or view submission one time, you get a single look. Have notes ready and write down the concept behind each miss.
• Use Show Incorrect Questions as a study list. Even without answers, knowing which questions you missed tells you which readings to go back to before the next attempt.
• Expect different questions next time. Pools and randomized order mean memorizing a specific answer rarely helps. Understanding the concept does.
• Test yourself, spaced out. Retrieval practice over several days beats rereading. Our Blackboard Ultra quiz guide covers the test interface itself, timers included.

Using an AI study assistant while you practise

A Blackboard review tells you which option was right. It rarely explains why the other three were wrong. An AI study assistant fills that gap on formative tests, practice quizzes and reviews of returned attempts by walking through the reasoning, defining terms and linking each question to the underlying concept.

QuizAce is a Chrome extension that reads the question on the Blackboard page, text and images included, and explains the answer beside it. It works in both Ultra and Original courses.

Whether outside help is permitted on a graded test is decided by your instructor and your institution's academic integrity policy. Check the test instructions and the syllabus; where AI is not allowed during graded work, use it to prepare beforehand and to understand your results afterwards.

Sources

• Anthology: Assessment Results (Ultra)
• Anthology: ORIGINAL Tests and Survey Options
• Anthology: Formative Assessments (Ultra)
• Anthology: Question Pools
• Anthology: Student Activity Details for Assessments

FAQ

How do I see the correct answers on Blackboard after a test?

Reopen the test from Course Content or your grades and view your submission. Correct answers appear only if your instructor enabled them: Correct Answers in Ultra's Assessment results, or the Correct checkbox in an Original results rule.

Why does Blackboard say answers will be revealed after all students submit?

That banner appears in Ultra when correct answers are scheduled for later, for example after all grades are posted. It clears once the release condition is met.

Why can I only see my score on a Blackboard test?

In Original, a score per question is the default and everything else must be enabled. In Ultra, the instructor may have turned off submission view or set later release dates. Your overall score can still appear in the gradebook either way.

Can I view a Blackboard test review more than once?

Not if the instructor chose One-time View (Original) or view submission one time (Ultra). Instructors can add a second rule or change the setting to reopen it, so ask if you need it.

Is using AI on a Blackboard quiz allowed?

Blackboard does not set that rule. Your instructor and your institution do. AI study tools are widely accepted for practice and revision and often restricted during graded tests.