> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.getkita.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.getkita.org/mark-and-give-feedback/unsubmit-a-students-work.md).

# Unsubmit a student's work

Unsubmit returns a submission to the student who made it. Use it when a student has handed in the wrong file and needs the work back.

{% hint style="info" %}
**You usually do not need to do this.** Kita accepts multiple submissions, so a student who submits the wrong file can simply submit the right one, the later submission is the one you mark. Unsubmit is for when you want the work returned rather than replaced.
{% endhint %}

### Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure:

* The student has actually submitted. There is nothing to return otherwise.
* You know which activity the submission belongs to. Submissions attach to the activity they were made from, not to the student generally.
* Your account has teacher permissions on that course.

### Three ways to reach a student's work

Unsubmit lives in the teacher view of a student's workspace, and there are three routes to it:

| Route                | Use it when                                                   |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Marking**          | You are working through submissions for an assessed activity. |
| **People**           | You are teaching live and watching the class code.            |
| **Student progress** | You are checking work between lessons.                        |

All three open the same view. The steps below take the **Marking** route, which is the one you will normally be on when you notice a wrong submission.

### Return the work

{% stepper %}
{% step %}
Click **Marking** in the main navigation.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
Click **Continue Marking** on the activity you are working through.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
Click the row for the student who submitted the wrong work.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
Click **Go to IDE** to open their workspace as they see it. **Unsubmit** is only available from this view, not from the marking list.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
Click **Unsubmit**.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
Click **Exit** to leave the student's code.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

### Check that it worked

The activity shows as outstanding again for that student in your marking list, and the student can submit a replacement file.

Tell the student you have returned it. Nothing prompts them, so a submission that quietly reappears as outstanding is easy for them to miss — particularly if the due date has passed.

### Troubleshooting

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="The student could just resubmit" %}
They can, and often that is quicker. Kita accepts multiple submissions, and the most recent one is what you mark.

Unsubmit is worth using when you want the wrong work off your marking list, or when you would rather the student started again than added another file.
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="I cannot see Unsubmit" %}
**Unsubmit** appears in the student's IDE view, not in the marking list. Open the student's row, then click **Go to IDE**.

If you are looking at your own copy of the lesson rather than the student's work, you will not see it.
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="I cannot find the student's submission" %}
Check you are in the right activity. Submissions attach to the activity they were made from, so work submitted to a different lesson appears under that lesson instead.

Then check the student is in the group enrolled on this course. See Enrol your class and share the group code.
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="A whole class submitted the wrong file" %}
If everyone has submitted something unexpected, the cause is usually the activity rather than the students — check the **Expected filenames** on the assessed activity and what the lesson instructions asked for.

Filenames do not block a submission, so a mismatch there does not stop work being accepted. See Create an assessed activity.
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

### Need help?

If a submission will not return, or the student cannot submit again after you have unsubmitted, email <hello@getkita.com> with the course, the lesson, the activity, and the student's name.


---

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