Frequently asked questions

Access Canvas by opening your web browser and visiting the University of Manchester Canvas URL: https://canvas.manchester.ac.uk

You will need to enter your University of Manchester login and password.* Alternatively, you can download the Canvas Student app (available for iOS and Android) and access your course this way.

*Please note that there is a similar option for Manchester University, but this University is based in Indiana, USA. Please ensure you select ‘The University of Manchester’.

Students with a University account and password should automatically have access to Canvas.

International students need to complete the Right to Study process to ensure they have the correct visa enabling them to study with us. This process must be completed before international students can access University systems.

Any student attempting to access Canvas without completing the Right to Study process will see an error message.

For other queries you can speak to your Course Unit Lead, Student Support Hub or raise a ticket with your local eLearning team. 

Work is currently underway to prepare the University to fully transition all teaching from Blackboard to Canvas by September 2025. Further guidance will be provided to students from your programme of study, as content is published and Canvas inductions are released.

You will need to access Canvas for various academic activities, including viewing course materials, submitting assignments, participating in discussions, taking quizzes and exams, checking grades, and communicating with lecturers and peers.

Canvas Community provides topics for all users.

The full Canvas Student Guide can be accessed here: Canvas Student Guide.

Course navigation guides can be found in this section.

Please note: the content displayed in this guide will appear different to The University of Manchester’s instance.

The University of Manchester plans to provide a tailored Student Induction to Canvas, aligned to how we have implemented the platform as an institution.

Accessing Grades

1. Access all your grades from the Dashboard menu. On the right-hand column under Recent feedback, click View Grades.
2. Course specific grades can be accessed from the Courses navigation menu. Select your course and, when accessed, click the Grades link.
3. The Grades page will display all current grades for assignments, along with any comments and rubrics provided by the lecturer.

Viewing Feedback

1. Click on the title of the assignment to see detailed feedback.
2. If the assignment includes annotated comments, click the View Feedback button to see comments through Canvas DocViewer. You can reply to comments or make your own annotations.

Checking Comments and Rubrics

1. The Comment icon next to the grade can be selected to view comments left by the instructor.
2. If the assignment has a rubric, you can view detailed descriptions of criterion and how your work was assessed.

Yes, you can download the Canvas Student app (available for both iOS and Android devices) and download course files to your device for offline viewing.

Once downloaded, you can access these files without an internet connection. You can work on assignments offline and submit them once you regain internet access.

Any changes made offline will be synchronised with the Canvas server when your device reconnects to the internet.

Yes, your modules and teaching content from the last three academic years will be available in Canvas. Some older content will not be transferred and will be archived.

Assessment information, including past submissions and feedback, will not move to Canvas. Students were first advised in February 2025 to download any work or feedback they may want to keep before September 2025.

Read more: Save your Blackboard information – Student News

If you need access to earlier Blackboard content in the future, you can request it. However, this may not be immediate, so we recommend downloading anything you are likely to need in advance.

For returning students: Blackboard will no longer be available from Friday 17 October 2025, as we move to Canvas.

Your learning materials will be transferred to Canvas ready for the next academic year. Before Blackboard is switched off, we recommend downloading any assessment submissions, feedback or other key information you’d like to keep.

If you need to access this information after this date, you will need to raise a ticket via Connect. 

Here are some guides to help you: 

• How to find your feedback for Turnitin and Blackboard Assignments  
• How to download discussions, journals, wikis, and other student content from Blackboard  
• How to download from Gradescope   
• How to get your feedback from Cadmus   

Where else can I get help?   

You can contact your Student Support Hub or put in a ticket for support.   

We will migrate 7 years worth of past module materials from Blackboard to Canvas. This includes:

• 3 years of legacy courses (2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25). Both students and staff will be enrolled on to their historical courses. You can access previous years' teaching content immediately.
• 4 years of data as archived courses (2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22). Access to this content is limited. As a student, you will need to submit a request for this data. We will communicate the process when it is available.

There are some exceptions where courses sit outside the default range. The Project Delivery Team and eLearning Teams have been working together, and mitigations will be applied in these instances.

Unfortunately, you are unable to download a full Blackboard course as a single file, as it’s too large and complex. It is hosted at the server level and includes many components.

However, you can download individual elements, such as resources, documentation, feedback and grades.

The mobile app you will use is Canvas Student and the developer is Instructure Inc. This is the official app for accessing your courses, assignments, notifications, and more while on the go.

 ⬆️ Android view in Google Play App Store 

⬆️ iOS view in Apple App Store 

There are other Canvas apps (such as Canvas Teacher and Canvas Parent), but these are not used by University of Manchester students.

The Canvas Student app is available for both Android and iOS (as shown above). Before downloading, please check the Canvas mobile device requirements to ensure compatibility.

Download the Canvas Student app, select your School as ‘The University of Manchester’* and log in using your credentials. You will land on the Dashboard page, and you can see all the courses on which you are enrolled.

*Please note, there is a similar option for Manchester University but this University is based in Indiana, USA. Please ensure you select ‘The University of Manchester’.

The Canvas Student app offers a wide range of features, but not all features available on the web version will be available on the app (see Canvas Student Mobile Features for details).

Some course content may link to other device apps (e.g. Google Drive). 

Key features of the app include:

• Submitting assignments
• Participating in discussions
• Viewing grades and course materials
• Accessing course calendars, to-do items, notifications and inbox messages.

If you are logged into Canvas, on the left-hand navigation menu, select Help then Report a problem (student). This will open our internal connect ticketing system and you will be directed to the correct team.

If you are not logged into Canvas, visit the IT Support, Connect page and follow the guidance.

Yes, you can find Help in the left-hand navigation menu.

There are several options available. Internally provided support is available if you report a problem as outlined in the question above. You can also seek a solution through the Canvas Support Centre.

If you require 24/7 support, you can Chat with a Global Canvas expert for queries about Canvas.

Many troubleshooting guides relating to assessments can be found in the Canvas Student Guide. This guide covers a wide range of topics, including common issues with quizzes, assignments, and submissions.

Please note: The Help option in the Canvas Student app does not perform in the same way as the web browser instance. It is best to access the Help option through a web browser for the most complete support experience.

Follow University policy:

• Submit ahead of time on or before the due date. A buffer allows time to resolve any technical issues before the final deadline.
• If the upload fails… don’t panic. First, try re-uploading the file using a stable internet connection and a supported browser.
• If the issue persists, contact your local support team immediately. Reach out to Assessment and Progression (A&P) staff or your local Student Support Hub.

Please Note:

• Your School may have its own preferences or additional steps for managing submission issues. Always check your course handbook or contact your School office.
• Your School may have specific processes for handling failed submissions. Refer to their guidance or contact your course team.

Canvas includes lots of features designed to help you feel more involved in your learning. For example, Studio lets your lecturers add videos and interactive media into your course materials, and quizzes can pop up in real-time to test your understanding as you go.

There are also collaboration tools, group spaces, and discussion boards that make it easier to work with classmates and take part in conversations about what you’re learning, whether that’s online or in person.

All of this is designed to help you stay engaged, take an active role in your studies, and feel more connected with your course and your peers.

Notifications can be delivered via email, SMS and push notifications. The frequency can be adjusted to suit your preferences.

To customise notifications, access your Account link in the Global Navigation menu and click Notifications.

Please be aware that timely delivery of course notifications may be important and adjusting settings may impact lead time. 

You can access your personal timetable via the Timetables page rather than in Canvas.

For information on how to submit an online assignment, please see this section from the Canvas Student Guide.

Canvas offers new and exciting assessment features. Student feedback often praises Canvas for its intuitive, user-friendly interface and flexibility. 

Some of the changes you will notice to assessment include:

• Quizzes will allow us to offer more advanced question types and improved interactive features compared to standard quizzing tools.

• Assignments provide you with more submission options and the ability to specify which file types can be submitted. You will see a visible progress bar when submitting your assignments. Assignments will be automatically added to or updated on the Assignment page, Syllabus Page and Calendar, if a due date is set.

• Gradebook (similar to Blackboard’s Grade Centre), which staff use to view and manage your grades. It offers multiple views and filters, so they can focus on individual students, specific assignments, or refine their view as needed. Canvas Gradebook is closely linked with assignments, helping ensure your assessment tracking is clear, consistent, and up to date.

• SpeedGrader will be used for feedback, with some differences to Blackboard. There is improved integration with rubrics. It is easier to comment, highlight and draw on paper for feedback. Feedback can be provided by audio and video. The mobile app provides the functionality to grade and annotate papers.

• SafeAssign on Blackboard will move to Turnitin on Canvas. This is directly integrated with SpeedGrader and will provide originality reports for you and your lecturers.

Cadmus is an additional tool that may be used alongside Canvas for some assessments. It offers a secure, structured space for written tasks and integrates with Canvas for submission and feedback. Cadmus supports various assessment types, with a focus on academic integrity and a positive student experience.

The first thing you may notice about Quizzes in Canvas is the updated interface. This should allow you to navigate quizzes easily and focus on answers.

You may hear it referred to as New Quizzes in Canvas. The new setup allows for more advanced question types, including multiple choice, fill in the blank, true/false statements. More unique quiz types, like hotspot and drag-and-drop, should help enhance interactivity and engagement.

The Rich Content Editor allows lecturers to add multimedia elements, equations and third-party tools directly into quiz questions.

If you are sitting an exam in Canvas, the process will remain largely the same:

• You will log in, click on the desktop, and open the relevant Canvas course.
• The exam page will appear just as it did previously in Blackboard, only the interface will look slightly different.
• The assessment desktop setup will remain unchanged.

Overall, the move to Canvas will have minimal impact on your experience. The main difference will be the new user interface and layout, but the process itself is very similar. Read more about exams on the exams website.

The Dashboard will be your landing page when you log in to Canvas. 'Card view' will be your default setting (as shown below) which shows your courses, upcoming assignments, events, and recent feedback.

The dashboard is highly customisable, allowing you to select which courses appear by visiting the Courses page. You can also set a course nickname, overlay a colour on the dashboard thumbnail and change viewing options by clicking on the ellipsis on the Dashboard page. Further guidance on how to do this will be covered as part of the student onboarding for Canvas.

This is how ‘List View’ appears. You can switch between views using the icon in the top right corner, as shown below:

Use the view options in the top right-hand corner to change how your courses are displayed.

Your Canvas profile can be accessed through the Account page and some customisation options are available. You can upload a profile picture to personalise your account and include a biography section.

Go to your Canvas account and access your account settings through the left-hand navigation menu (Account > Settings > Notifications). Here you can view existing settings and set preferences on an individual course basis.

If you are set up with the Canvas Student app, you can manage push notification settings directly within the app.

The University of Manchester will keep you informed about new tools and features in Canvas through in-platform announcements (called ‘Global announcements’) and updates in Student News.

Canvas regularly publishes release notes that detail new features and updates that can be accessed through the Canvas Community. The Canvas Product Roadmap details what is in development for the future.

There will be lots of opportunities for you to provide feedback on Canvas when we go-live. These opportunities may differ depending on your programme of study, but you can raise a ticket by visiting the Help section and Reporting a Problem.

Ensuring an accessible and pleasant experience to all users, regardless of disability, is a key element of Canvas software.

The Canvas platform was built using modern HTML and CSS technologies and is committed to W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative and Section 508 guidelines. Further information about Canvas accessibility standards is posted here.

• General accessibility is provided through compatibility with screen readers and keyboard navigation.
• Content accessibility is designed through the Rich Content Editor which has an accessibility checker tool, alt text for images can be added by lecturers, as well as captioning and transcripts for audio and video content.
• User accessibility allows users to adjust text size and contrast settings to improve readability. Canvas uses ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) landmarks to help screen reader users navigate the interface more efficiently. For users who cannot use drag-and-drop, the move-to option allows content to be moved using keyboard commands.

Yes, you do this by accessing the Calendar Page and selecting Calendar Feed from the right-hand column. The full guide on how to do this can be accessed via Canvas Community.

Canvas uses the same login and password credentials that are set at institution level.

You are recommended to follow the processes set by IT Services when it comes to login and password management.

You can see more about the Canvas developer's (Instructure Holdings, inc.) commitment to privacy here.

If The University of Manchester becomes aware of anything that deviates from existing privacy policies, we will communicate this to our students.

Be assured, we have an Information Governance Office and have completed an Information Governance Risk Review as part of the tenure process for Canvas by Instructure.

Carry out good practice when it comes to digital online security.

• Ensure you have a strong password
• Use Duo 2-factor authentication
• Regularly update your passwords
• Be cautious of suspicious links or attachments
• Log out after use
• Keep software updated.

Canvas employs robust security measures, including encryption, access controls, and regular security audits.