Troubleshooting

Most of these are working as intended and just look wrong.

The verification email hasn't arrived

Check your junk folder — that is where it nearly always is. The link also expires, so if it has been sitting a while use Send a new link on the sign-in page rather than clicking the old one.

My handwriting was transcribed wrongly

It happens. It will not cost you marks — a plausible misread is treated as correct and mentioned in the feedback.

To reduce it: write a bit larger, leave space between symbols, and put each step on its own line. Use + Space instead of squeezing work into the bottom of the pad.

A line shows “–” in the check table

That means not compared, not wrong. See the line-by-line check.

Nothing appears under the pad when I write

Transcription runs about a second after you lift your pen, not while you draw. If a few seconds pass with nothing, add a stroke and lift again. On the Sketch tab there is no transcription at all — sketches are sent as pictures.

Submit is greyed out

Usually one of:

• nothing has been written yet — one stroke enables it;
• your email isn't verified yet;
• a multiple-choice question with no option selected.

The pad won't draw

If you've already submitted, the pad is locked on purpose so your submitted work is preserved — press New question. Otherwise check the Eraser isn't selected instead of the pen.

Generating a question is slow

A brand new question is written and checked before you see it, which takes about half a minute. Questions marked from bank are instant. Leaving the Specific request box empty makes a bank question much more likely.

I keep getting the same topic

Random topic looks across the whole subject, but only for questions you have not already submitted. If a topic keeps coming back it is usually the one with the most unseen questions left.

Formulas show as raw code

Something like \( x^2 \) instead of the formula itself.

That is a display fault, not your doing. Reload the page; if it persists, tell us which page and question.

Something else

If a question is wrong, use the comment box under its marking — that reaches us attached to the exact question. For anything else, get in touch.

Still stuck? Get in touch and tell us what you were doing when it went wrong.