User Guide2026-03-15·8 min read

How to Use MAPLES OSM: Part 2 — Evaluating Answer Sheets

A complete guide to marking answer books in MAPLES OSM — the 3-panel evaluation interface, placing tick and cross marks, keyboard shortcuts, rejecting papers, reporting malpractice, and completing evaluation.

Overview

Once you've selected an answer book from your dashboard (see Part 1), you'll enter the evaluation view — MAPLES OSM's core interface where you mark student responses against an answer key.

The Evaluation Interface

The evaluation screen is divided into three panels:

Left Panel — Reference Materials

The left panel gives you quick access to supporting documents:

Question Paper — View the question paper for the current answer book.

Answer Key — View the official answer key.

Instructions — Read evaluation guidelines and instructions.

Report Issue — Report a grievance or technical issue via chat.

Report Malpractice — Flag malpractice found in the answer book.

You can show or hide this panel using the toggle button.

Center Panel — Answer Sheet Viewer

The main area displays the scanned answer sheet page. This is where you:

View the student's handwritten responses.

Place tick and cross marks on the page.

Zoom and scroll to read the content clearly.

Right Panel — Question Grid & Marks

The right panel contains:

Question Grid — A grid of all question numbers. Click any question to select it.

Marking Controls — Buttons to switch between tick and cross marks.

Current Marks Display — Shows marks for the selected question (e.g., "Q1: 5/10").

Finish Evaluation — Button to submit your evaluation when done.

How to Mark an Answer Sheet

Step 1: Select a Question

Click on a question number in the Question Grid on the right panel. The selected question will be highlighted with a bold outline.

The grid uses color coding to show progress:

Color	Meaning
Gray	Not yet evaluated
Green	Marked with a tick — marks awarded
Red	Marked with a cross — zero marks
Yellow/Orange	In progress

Step 2: Choose Your Mark Type

Use the marking controls to select:

Tick (green button) — The student's answer is correct or partially correct.

Cross (red button) — The student's answer is incorrect.

Step 3: Place the Mark

Click on the area of the answer sheet image where the student's response is located.

If you placed a Tick: A score popup will appear asking you to enter the marks awarded. Type the marks and click "Save", or click "Cancel" to undo.

If you placed a Cross: The mark is placed automatically with zero marks — no additional input needed.

Step 4: Review & Adjust

The Current Marks Display updates in real time to show the marks for each question.

To remove marks for a question, click the Delete (trash icon) button.

You can re-mark a question at any time by selecting it and placing new marks.

Navigating Between Pages

Use the Previous and Next buttons below the answer sheet image to move between pages. The current position is shown as "Page 1 of 20" (for example).

Visited Pages Indicator

A progress bar tracks which pages you've viewed. This is important because you must visit all pages before you can finish the evaluation. If you haven't viewed every page, you'll see a warning: "Please visit all pages before finishing evaluation."

Keyboard Shortcuts

Speed up your workflow with these keyboard shortcuts:

Shortcut	Action
Q or Left Arrow	Open Question Paper
A or Right Arrow	Open Answer Key
I	Open Instructions

Rejecting an Answer Book

Sometimes an answer book cannot or should not be evaluated. MAPLES OSM lets you reject it with a reason.

How to Reject

Click the "Reject Paper" button (available during evaluation).

Select a reason from the predefined list:

- Duplicate Answer Sheet

- Blank Answer Sheet

- Already Evaluated by me

- Incomplete Answer Booklet

- Wrong Medium

- Incorrect Subject

- Damaged Paper

- Other — Enter a custom reason in the text field

Click "Reject Paper" (red button) to confirm, or "Cancel" to go back.

Once rejected, the answer book's status changes to Rejected and it will be reassigned or handled by administration.

Reporting Malpractice

If you discover signs of malpractice while evaluating, you can report it without stopping your evaluation.

How to Report Malpractice

Click the "Report Malpractice" button (alert icon) on the left panel.

Select the page number where the malpractice was found (pre-filled with the current page).

Select the question numbers found on that page using the checkboxes.

Choose the type of malpractice:

- Writing the answer revealing the identity of the candidate (1H)

- Writing songs, stories, poems or drawings irrelevant to the subject (1J)

- Writing any appeal to Examiner / Giving contact details (2H)

- Writing filthy / indecent / vulgar words or sketching obscene figures (4A)

- Other Malpractice / Suspected Malpractice — Enter a custom description

Click "Report Malpractice" to submit.

Important: Reporting malpractice does not stop your evaluation. You can continue marking the answer book and submit it as usual. The malpractice report is attached to the answer book for administrative review.

Completing the Evaluation

Step 1: Visit All Pages

Make sure you've navigated through every page of the answer book. The visited pages indicator should be fully filled.

Step 2: Click "Finish Evaluation"

Once all pages are visited, the "Finish Evaluation" button (green) appears at the bottom of the right panel. Click it to proceed to the confirmation screen.

Step 3: Review on the Confirmation Screen

The Answer Sheet Preview page shows a summary of your evaluation:

Total Score — A progress bar showing the total marks awarded out of the maximum (e.g., "45/100").

Question-by-Question Breakdown — Each question listed with marks given / maximum marks and an "Unattempted" checkbox if the student didn't attempt the question.

Step 4: Submit

Click "Complete Evaluation" to finalize and submit your marks.

Click "Back" if you need to return to the evaluation to make changes.

Once submitted, the answer book moves to Completed status and becomes available for moderator verification.

Handling Warnings

As you evaluate, moderators may review your completed work and issue warnings. When this happens:

A bell icon with a badge count appears in the navigation bar.

Click the bell to open the Warnings dialog.

You'll see a message like: "You have 2 warning(s) (1 unread)".

Each warning card shows:

Warning type (e.g., "Over-valuation", "Under-valuation", "Lack of adherence to answer key")

Moderator name — Who issued the warning

Reason — Explanation for the warning

Date — When it was issued

"New" badge — For unread warnings

Warnings are automatically marked as read when you close the dialog. Take these warnings seriously — they help you improve your evaluation accuracy.

Tips for Efficient Evaluation

Use keyboard shortcuts to quickly switch between the question paper and answer key.

Mark systematically — work through questions in order to avoid missing any.

Check the question grid regularly to spot unevaluated questions (gray boxes).

Visit all pages early — scroll through the entire answer book first, then go back to mark.

Save frequently — marks are saved as you go, but completing the evaluation locks them in.

What's Next?

If you're also a moderator (or want to understand the verification process), head to Part 3: Moderation & Verification to learn about moderation, verification, issuing warnings, and reallocation.

*This guide is part of a 3-part series:*

[Part 1: Getting Started](/blog/guide-getting-started)

Part 2: Evaluating Answer Sheets (You are here)

[Part 3: Moderation & Verification](/blog/guide-moderation-verification)