Case Study
Getting better grades
Redesigning a university’s grading process
The Problem
An Australian university moved to a six-week teaching model, requiring final grades within eight days, less than half the previous 22-day cycle, where 20% were late.
Timely results weren’t just an administrative fix but essential to student momentum. With only four months to implement a solution, the university engaged Lilyfield Partners to design a grading process fit for purpose and built for speed.
Our Approach
We partnered with the university’s academic, student administration, and technology teams to rapidly assess the existing process, explore solutions, and implement a scalable approach.
Our focus was on designing a streamlined, technology-enabled grading process that provided faculties with greater control and real-time visibility.
Early discovery identified three key challenges: a reliance on end-of-term committee meetings that caused bottlenecks, a lack of visibility into grade progress due to manual analysis, and disconnected systems that slowed approvals. Addressing these required a shift to continuous grade governance, integrated analytics, and simplified grade submission and approval workflows.
The Solution
Our early solution hypothesis focused on empowering faculties with the tools and processes to manage grades effectively throughout the term.
Key elements of the solution included:
Shifting to continuous grade governance, allowing faculty to oversee grades throughout the term instead of relying on a single, end-of-term committee meeting
Providing standardised analytical and reporting tools to enable grade assurance to occur continuously throughout the term
Simplifying grade submission and approval, ensuring clear visibility of grade entry, submission and approval timeliness to keep the process on schedule
We rapidly iterated on possible solutions, exploring alternative process and technology design concepts. The final solution architecture involved the development and integration of new and existing process and technology components based on:
Grade entry submission via the university’s existing Learning Management System
Final grade review and approval within the Student System
New Power BI dashboards on a Snowflake database, providing real-time visualisation of grade data and statistical alerts to prompt action
Collaboration with the university’s technology team was key, ensuring the new solution was both technically robust and operationally practical
Problem Solved
The new process was implemented in time for Summer Term grades, delivering immediate impact:
95.5% of Summer Term grades were finalised on time – a dramatic improvement from the previous <80% on-time rate
By the end of Term 3, 99.8% of grades were released on time, fully enabling the new six-week teaching model
This wasn’t just about fixing a broken process; it was about enabling a fundamental shift in the university’s operations. By designing with agility and iterating quickly, we transformed a near-impossible challenge into a scalable model for the future.
Get in touch with us today
Partner with us to deliver real change for your organisation and create a better tomorrow.