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Giving a student extra time when your class uses Canvas

Extra time only works if the student's end date in Blended Teaching is late enough. Here is how to set both, and what Canvas does and does not control.

If a student has extra time on exams, two things in Blended Teaching have to be set: the extra time itself, and an end date for that student that is late enough to use it. Setting extra time in Canvas does nothing inside Blended.

This article covers:

  1. How the time limit and the end date work together

  2. Set the extra time

  3. Give the student their own end date

  4. What to do in Canvas

  5. FAQ

1. How the time limit and the end date work together

A timed quiz has a time limit (how long each attempt lasts) and an End Date (when the quiz closes for everyone). An attempt auto-submits at whichever comes first: the student's time runs out, or the End Date arrives.

Extra time adds to the time limit. It does not move the End Date. So if the End Date is set tightly around the standard time limit, a student with extra time gets no more than everyone else.

For example: a 60-minute exam starts at 10:00 and ends at 11:00. One student has 50% extra time, so their time limit is 90 minutes. They start at 10:00. At 11:00 the quiz reaches its End Date and submits their attempt. They had 60 minutes, not 90. Once they start, the student sees: "Your time limit is 90 minutes, but this quiz closes at 11:00."

The fix is to give that student an End Date of 11:30 or later. The Due Date does not help here. It only decides whether an attempt is late.

2. Set the extra time

  1. Open your course in the Control Center and go to the Students page.

  2. Find the student and click Add accommodation in the Accommodations column.

  3. Enter the extra time as a percentage or in minutes. For the example above, 50% or 30 minutes.

  4. Save.

On the Students page, click Add accommodation for the student, choose Percentage, enter 50 and save.

You can also set it for a single quiz from that quiz's Moderate tab.

The full guide to accommodations, including extra attempts and deadline extensions, is Making Accommodations: Extra Time, Attempts & Extensions.

3. Give the student their own end date

  1. Open the quiz and go to Setup.

  2. Under Availability, leave the first set of dates as they are. That is the class's dates and it is what Canvas shows.

  3. Click + Assign To and add the student.

  4. Set their End Date to the start time plus their full time limit. For the example, 11:30. Keep the Start Date the same.

  5. Save.

In the quiz Setup, click + Assign to, add the student, type their later End Date and save.

If several students have extra time, you can instead set the class End Date late enough for the longest extra time, for example 11:30 for everyone. The time limit still stops each student's attempt at 60 or 90 minutes.

Extra days (Additional Days for Due/End Dates) moves the due and end dates by whole days. It is for extending a deadline, not for extra time on exam day.

4. What to do in Canvas

We send Canvas one Start Date and one Due Date for the quiz: the class's dates. We don't send End Dates, section dates or a student's own dates, and we don't read dates you set in Canvas. A Canvas "Assign To" override for the student does not change anything in Blended.

So the extra time and the student's end date have to be set in Blended. Canvas is optional and only affects what the student sees in Canvas:

  • If you want the student's Canvas calendar and late label to match, edit the assignment in Canvas, click + Assign To, add the student and give them the later due date.

  • Leave the Canvas Until date empty, or set it later than the student's Blended End Date. An Until date that is too early locks the link before the student has finished.

In Canvas, edit the assignment, click Assign To to add a card, choose the student, give them the later due date and leave Until empty, then save.

If your sections share one Canvas course and need different dates, read Managing Due Dates for Different Sections first.

5. FAQ

I set extra time in Canvas. Why did the student still get cut off?

We run the quiz in Blended and don't read Canvas dates. Set the extra time and the student's End Date in Blended as above.

Do I have to change anything in Canvas?

No. Canvas dates only control whether the link is clickable and what the Canvas calendar shows. We control the attempt, the timer and the cutoff.

The student already got cut off. What now?

Set their End Date as in step 3, then give them an extra attempt from Moderate → Quiz-Level Accommodations → Additional Attempts.

Will the student's own End Date sync to Canvas?

No. End Dates never sync. Only the class's Start and Due Dates do.

Can I use Sections instead of adding the student?

Yes, if you have a section for students with accommodations. Add the section under + Assign To and give it the later End Date. See Managing Sections.

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