How to add student extensions for assignments

Published on: 12/09/2025 · Last updated on: 18/06/2026

Overview

Moodle extensions allow students to submit assignments after the due date without being marked as late. If a cut-off date has been set, this also lets students submit after that cut-off date. These instructions on adding student extensions to assignment activities support our recommended approaches for creating assignments.

It is possible to use Groups in Moodle to filter groups of students to apply the extensions to these students. This is essential for anonymous assignments and extensions where it is not possible to see the student’s name from the Submissions tab.

Important: always use the Extensions workflow described here for Assignments. Avoid using Overrides for Assignments, as they may disrupt reporting and student notifications.

Add extensions for anonymous assignments

You must complete all three stages below to apply an anonymous extension, whilst maintaining anonymity and student privacy.

A. Create an extension group

Create and populate a Hidden group within your Moodle course. This hidden group includes students with extensions and helps maintain anonymity while distinguishing them from others.

It is essential to set the Group membership visibility to Hidden to preserve the privacy of those students.

B. Apply the group mode filtering setting

1. Go to the Assignment and Settings tab.
2. Expand Common Module Settings and in the Group Mode select: Separate groups and then save

The Separate groups setting is different from a Group assignment. Set Group mode to Separate groups even for individual assignments to allow group-based filtering.

C. Filter the groups and apply the extension

1. Go to the Submissions tab for the Assignment to view all submissions.
2. Go to the Select separate groups dropdown menu and select the extension group name to filter students with an extension.
3. Select all students in the filtered group with the checkboxes.
4. Below the Participant list choose Grant extension.
5. Repeat all stages above for extension groups with different extension times.

If you can’t see Select separate groups and see Filter by name instead, then make sure you have enabled Group mode in the Assignment’s Common Module Settings (see step B. Apply the group mode filtering setting)

Add assignment extensions for non-anonymous student submissions

Follow these instructions to individually apply extensions to students, where the Assignment has not been set up as Anonymous Assignment.

1. Open the Assignment and go to the Submissions tab to view all submissions in the Grading Table.
2. By default Moodle will accept submissions after the due date up until the (optional) cut-off date. (Any submissions received after the due date will be clearly marked as late).
3. To grant an extension for an individual student, locate the student concerned, and click on the 3 dots dropdown in the Status column and select Grant extension.
4. Repeat this process for all students requiring an extension.