Assess oral work

How to grade an oral exam in 3 minutes (with zero prep)

Published June 11, 2026 · Lire en français

In short — With SnapJury, you start an oral with a single tap, grade live while the student speaks, and get a written summary in minutes. No rubric and no setup needed to begin. Works on iPhone, iPad and Mac, and stays 100% on your own devices.

The real problem with an oral: doing everything at once

Running an oral exam is a balancing act: you have to listen to the student, note what matters, watch the clock… all while staying present and supportive. So you scribble on a sheet, rebuild the grade that evening, and half of what you meant to say has already faded.

SnapJury is built for exactly that: keep your eyes on the student while the app handles the rest. Here's how to grade an oral from start to finish, in just a few minutes.

1. Start the oral, with zero prep

You don't need to import a class or create a grading rubric to begin. One tap on the center button is enough: by default it's a free-form oral, no rubric required. When the student starts, you launch the timer, and you can set a target duration (six minutes, for instance) to keep a quiet eye on the time.

💡 Mock-oral tip: turn on Focus mode and flip the screen toward the student. They see their own timer and learn to manage their time, while you stay fully listening.

2. Capture everything with a single tap

During the performance, every observation takes one tap:

• a strong point? tap Plus;
• something to work on? tap Minus;
• a remark you keep making from one student to the next? save it once as a Shortcut, and reuse it with a single tap next time.

You never look away from the student to write: you tap, you listen, you carry on.

3. Mark the key moments: the timeline of the oral

A slide that runs too long, a repetition, a verbal tic, a great opening? Mark the moment with a tap. SnapJury keeps the chronology: by the end, you have a real timeline of the oral, and you can replay any moment at a glance. With an Apple Watch, that marker can even be added discreetly from your wrist.

That's the whole point: your feedback no longer rests on a fuzzy memory, but on a faithful record of the performance.

4. A grading rubric, optional

Want to structure the grade? Add a grading rubric in seconds: your criteria, their scale. To grade, drag the slider or type the score directly — half-points are allowed. (To go further, see create a grading rubric.)

5. The summary — dictated or written, you stay in control

Once the oral is over, it's time for the summary. Two options:

1. fill in the rubric by hand;
2. or give your feedback out loud, straight to the student: SnapJury transcribes it, and everything stays on your device.

From your criteria, your scale, your pluses and minuses and the transcript, the app can even draft a summary: a clear first draft, ready to refine. On Apple Intelligence-compatible devices, that summary is even sharper.

SnapJury never grades for you: it's a copilot. It shapes the words; you decide.

6. Finalize now, complete later

Haven't identified the student yet? Haven't finished grading? Nothing is lost, everything stays editable. You finalize the oral, then identify the student or complete the grade later, with a clear head. (That's the whole point of grading and completing your orals.)

And beyond a single oral?

One graded oral is just the start. SnapJury also handles:

• your classes and the tracking of each student — start by importing your students;
• group orals and peer assessment;
• class reports, exporting grades to your spreadsheet;
• and even written work: papers, projects, presentations — see grading written work with SnapJury.

Everything is synced through iCloud, across all your Apple devices: grade on your iPhone in the room, pick it back up on Mac or iPad in the evening.

Wrap-up

Grading an oral shouldn't force you to choose between being present for your student and keeping a reliable record. With SnapJury, you do both: live capture, a timeline of key moments, an assisted summary, and zero prep to get started.

Frequently asked questions

What app can I use to grade an oral exam?

SnapJury is an assessment app built for teachers: it lets you grade an oral live, with or without a rubric, on iPhone, iPad and Mac. It also handles written work, student tracking and class reports.

Can I assess an oral without a rubric?

Yes. SnapJury offers a free-form oral mode: you grade with a tap (strong points / areas to improve) and set an overall score, with no rubric at all. You can always add a rubric afterward.

Is student data protected?

Yes. SnapJury runs 100% on your own devices, synced through your private iCloud. No student data is sent to any third-party server.

Does SnapJury work on iPad and Mac?

Yes — on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, with iCloud sync. Grade in the room, then finish your corrections on a bigger screen in the evening.