Canvas hides the rubric in slightly different places depending on whether you're on the assignment page, the speedgrader, or the mobile app. If you've spent five minutes clicking around and can't find it, this is the path.
The short answer: where the rubric lives in Canvas
On a Canvas assignment, the rubric appears below the assignment description. Scroll down, and if there is a rubric attached you will see a "Show Rubric" button or a table of criteria. If there is nothing, your tutor has not attached one — message them and ask.
Step 1: open the assignment from the Canvas dashboard
From your course's Canvas page, click Assignments in the left sidebar. Find the assignment you are working on and click its title. You should now be on the assignment page with the description, due date, and submission box.
Step 2: scroll past the assignment description
Below the assignment description (sometimes well below it, depending on length), look for one of these:
- A blue "Show Rubric" button — click it and the rubric expands.
- A table titled simply "Rubric" with criteria, points, and descriptors visible immediately.
- An entire section labelled "This assignment has a rubric" with the criteria listed.
If you don't see any of these, the tutor has either not attached the rubric or attached it as a separate file (PDF or Word) in the Files tab or the assignment description.
Step 3: copy or download the rubric
Canvas does not always give you a download button. To get a copy you can study from outside Canvas:
- Print to PDF: with the rubric expanded, hit Cmd+P / Ctrl+P, choose "Save as PDF". You'll get a clean offline copy.
- Screenshot: works in a pinch, especially on mobile.
- Copy paste into a doc: highlight the rubric text and paste into Word or Google Docs. Tables usually paste through.
Once you have the rubric in any format, you can paste it into Rubrica's free rubric decoder for a plain-English breakdown of every criterion.
Step 4: on the Canvas mobile app
The mobile app hides the rubric a bit deeper:
- Open the course → Assignments → tap the assignment.
- Tap the three-dot menu (top right) or scroll all the way down.
- Look for "Rubric" or "Show Rubric". On some versions it's only visible after you submit a draft.
If you can't find it on mobile, switch to a browser. The web version exposes more.
What to do if there is no rubric attached
Sometimes there genuinely isn't one — the tutor is grading on holistic impression or using a programme-level rubric not specific to this assignment. Three options:
- Check the assignment description. Tutors often paraphrase the rubric in the brief: "This will be marked on argument quality, use of evidence, and structure." That paraphrase IS effectively the rubric.
- Check the syllabus or course outline for a programme-level marking matrix.
- Email the tutor. Politely ask whether a rubric is available. Most will share one, and asking signals you take the assignment seriously.
Once you have the rubric: what to do with it
Don't just file it. Use it during revision:
- Translate each criterion into plain English.
- Score your current draft on each row honestly.
- Revise the heaviest underperforming row first.
For the full method, see how to read a university marking rubric. Or upload the rubric and your draft to Rubrica's rubric checker and let it do the criterion-by-criterion scoring for you.
Other LMS platforms?
If you're on Moodle, Blackboard, Brightspace, or Google Classroom instead, see where to find the rubric on each LMS. Each platform hides it slightly differently.