What do the colors mean in Apex Learning? (green, yellow, red)
They show your On Schedule Percent. A district guide to Apex Learning’s coach reports defines it as “the number of graded activities a student has completed due through today divided by the total number of activities due through today,” and uses these bands:
| Color | On Schedule Percent | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Green | 80% or more | You are turning work in on time against the due dates in your Enrollment Details Report. |
| Yellow | 60% to 79% | You are behind. The guide calls it a caution. |
| Red | 59% or less | “A failing number of assignments have not been submitted.” |
One catch the same guide points out: “Assignments can be labeled behind/overdue if they are ungraded.” If you are yellow or red after submitting, open your Enrollment Details Report and check whether the overdue items are unsubmitted or just waiting for your teacher to grade them. Your school can set its own labels and due dates, so your teacher has the final word.
How is your Apex grade calculated?
Apex’s Grade Book shows several numbers, and they answer different questions. A Texas Tech K-12 teacher handout shows an Apex Grade Book with columns for Overdue Activities, Days Since Access, On Schedule Percent, Quality of Work, Grade to Date and Overall Percent (handout).
- Quality of Work is “the points your student has earned on completed activities divided by the points possible for completed activities.” It says how well you did on what you turned in.
- Grade to Date “shows how many points your student has earned so far compared to the points possible on assignments that were due.” It is “only exact if all grading is up to date”, so a low number can mean ungraded work, unsubmitted work, or both.
That is why Quality of Work can be passing while Grade to Date is low: you are doing well on what you finish but are behind on due dates. The fix for that gap is catching up, not retaking finished work. Teacher-scored items such as written responses can sit ungraded for days, so turn those in early.
If you also take an Edgenuity course, its grades work differently: the Actual grade scales your Overall grade down when you are behind your target pace. The Edgenuity grade calculator works it out.
What grade do you need to pass Apex Learning?
It depends on your school. One district’s guide to Apex coach reports says that on Quality of Work “a student with a percentage below 60% is failing,” while one above 60% “is passing the work that has been submitted.” The same guide warns that a student who is not caught up to due dates is “in danger of not earning full credit for the course,” so a passing Quality of Work is not enough if you are behind. Check your syllabus or ask your teacher for your course’s cutoff.
Does Apex Learning track time?
Yes. The coach-report guide lists Last Access, “the date your student last accessed (opened) their course”, and a Detail Report that “tells you to the minute how many times and for how long each time your student was in their course.” It adds that “Other” in that report “shows time the course was opened, but no pages were being turned,” and that a student “can be accessing (opening) their course without actually working in it.” Parents set up as coaches get these reports by email, and teachers see Days Since Access in the Grade Book.
Teachers can also see, for each computer-scored assessment, “how many attempts were made, and how long it took the student to complete that activity” (Data and Reporting Guide). Silent Student’s work in Apex is recorded in those reports the same way yours is, and it does not hide or change it. More on whether Apex Learning detects AI or cheating.
How do you pass Apex quizzes, and what if you fail one?
Your course decides how many tries you get. In the Texas Tech K-12 setup, “Students have a total of two tries to pass a Quiz.” After the second failed attempt you message your teacher, who can reset the quiz in the Grade Book. If the third attempt also fails, the teacher can use Permit Progress so you can move on, and you keep the grade from that third attempt. Other schools set different limits, so read your course rules or ask. In Edgenuity, a student who runs out of retakes needs the teacher to add one; Edgenuity vs Apex Learning compares the two side by side.
The routine that helps most before any quiz:
- Skim the lesson’s study guide for the main terms and the one big idea.
- Do the practice activity and note every miss.
- Re-read only the parts tied to your misses.
- Take the quiz while it is fresh.
Many Apex courses lock later activities until earlier ones are done, so a skipped or failed quiz can wall off the rest of the unit. If something looks unavailable, scroll up for the unfinished item gating it.
Can you copy and paste or use notes on an Apex quiz?
You cannot copy and paste during an active quiz or test. Apex Learning’s academic-integrity guide lists, among its built-in assessment security features, that students “are prevented from copying answers from another web browser or document while an assessment is active.” Schools can also turn on closed-book assessments, which “prevent students from accessing course content while a computer-scored assessment is in progress,” and can switch off question feedback so you are not shown the correct answers during a quiz. Whether paper notes are allowed is your teacher’s rule, so ask before the quiz.
Why is my Apex test locked, and how does it get unlocked?
A locked Apex test is usually a setting your school turned on, and a teacher or other staff member has to unlock it. Apex Learning’s academic-integrity guide for schools describes the settings behind most locks:
- Proctoring. “Proctoring restricts student access to scored activities,” and a school can apply it to quizzes, practices, tests and exams. A proctored test stays locked until a teacher or mentor opens it for you.
- Auto-proctoring. “Once a proctored computer-scored assessment is unlocked, students must complete the assessment within the same session.” After that session ends, “subsequent access to the activity will require a staff member to unlock,” and tests “automatically re-lock after 30 minutes of inactivity and after 90 minutes if the student has not begun.”
- Mastery-based learning. Schools can turn it on “to ensure sequential access to course content,” so a test stays closed until the activities before it are done.
Failed attempts can stop you as well. The same guide tells schools to “limit assessment attempts,” and in the Texas Tech K-12 setup, a student who fails a quiz after the reset “will then send you a message that they cannot move forward” until the teacher uses Permit Progress. If a test is locked, write down the activity name and message your teacher. Only school staff can unlock or reset it. Edgenuity tests lock for their own reasons, covered in why is my Edgenuity test locked?
How do you pass Apex Learning fast and catch up?
Start with the unit pretest if your course has one. Apex Learning’s Data and Reporting Guide says some courses “allow students to accelerate beyond previously mastered content by taking a computer-scored pretest at the beginning of each unit,” and a student who scores high enough does “not have to complete every activity in the unit.” Activities you master “are automatically scored and marked complete,” and the course outline highlights what is left. Labs in science and readings in English are not tested on the pretest, so they may still be assigned. No pretest in your course? Use the catch-up order below.
- Check the colors first, every session. Knowing you are six activities behind is easier to fix than a vague feeling of being behind.
- Overdue usually is not closed. Past-due activities often still accept work; how late work is scored is your teacher’s setting, so ask.
- Clear quick computer-scored items first, then the teacher-scored ones that need grading time.
- Do a little every day. The On Schedule Percent rewards steady work over a weekend binge.
- Reopen, do not restart. If your connection drops mid-activity, reopen it and look for a resume prompt before starting over.
How do you sign in to Apex Learning?
Use the sign-in link or portal your school gave you. The Apex Learning course player loads at course.apexlearning.com, and some schools send students there through their own portal instead. If your username or password does not work, ask your teacher or your school’s Apex contact; Silent Student cannot reset Apex accounts.
Apex Learning’s guide for schools explains how passwords work. “When a new user account is created a temporary password is generated and the user is prompted to change the password upon sign in. Temporary passwords expire after 15 days,” and users “are required to change passwords every 90 days.” On your first sign-in you also have to accept the student code of conduct. One more rule: “Students may not sign in to more than one computer at a time,” so sign out on one device before you sign in on another.
Is there an app that does Apex Learning?
Disclosure: we make Silent Student. It is a desktop app for Mac and Windows that is built mainly for college Canvas courses, and it also works Apex Learning. Apex Learning itself is courseware Edmentum describes as “digital curricula for grades 6–12 learners” for first-time credit and credit recovery (Edmentum), so check your school’s rules before you use any tool on it. It is also not Apex Vision AI, an unrelated homework-helper extension we compare here.
| Apex activity | Silent Student | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Studies, reads, practices | Yes | Clicked through to completion, including the Activity Completed prompt. |
| Quizzes and computer-scored tests | Yes | Multiple choice and multi-select only. |
| Written or free-response activities | No | It reports that it could not answer rather than inventing one. |
| Locked activities | Skipped | It never unlocks anything; it works only what mastery gating has opened. |
| Proctored activities (for example Proctorio) | No | Refused. Take these yourself. |
| Apex courses inside Edmentum Courseware | Not tested | We have not run Silent Student on Apex courses inside Edmentum Courseware. |
How it runs: it walks your unit map in order and submits each activity as it goes, with no approval step for Apex work. A run stops after three failed activities in a row and after fifty activities at most. Apex allows one active session per account, so do not sign in yourself while it runs. On some quizzes Apex hides per-question feedback, so the run cannot tell you how it did; you see the score in Apex. It can answer wrong, and it does not promise a grade. More detail is on the Silent Student Apex Learning bot page; Apex is included in every plan, from $11.99 a month (pricing). If you also take an Edgenuity course, see our Edgenuity AI bot page for what Silent Student does in its lessons.
Sources
Checked October 20, 2026. Every quotation on this page was re-read against its source that day.
- Fullerton Joint Union High School District, iSierra Online Academy: Coach Reports (Apex Learning)
- Texas Tech University K-12, Apex: How to Reset an Activity (teacher handout, PDF)
- Edmentum, Apex Courses
- Apex Learning, Best Practices: Promoting Academic Integrity (September 16, 2024, PDF)
- Apex Learning, Data and Reporting Guide: Courses (2020, PDF)
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Frequently asked questions
What does yellow mean in Apex Learning?
Yellow means only 60% to 79% of the activities due so far were completed on schedule, so you are behind. Green is 80% or more and red is 59% or less. Ungraded work can also show as overdue, so check your Enrollment Details Report.
What is Grade to Date in Apex?
Points earned compared with points possible on assignments that were due. It is only exact when all grading is up to date, so a low Grade to Date can mean ungraded or unsubmitted work. Quality of Work, by contrast, only counts what you completed.
Does Apex Learning track time?
Yes. Coach reports show the date you last opened the course and a detail report that shows, to the minute, how many times and how long you were in it. Teachers see Days Since Access in the Grade Book.
How many tries do you get on an Apex quiz?
It depends on your course. In one school’s setup students get two tries to pass a quiz, then the teacher resets it; after a third failed try the teacher can permit progress and the third grade stands. Ask your teacher for your course’s rule.
How do you pass Apex Learning fast?
If your course has unit pretests, take them seriously. Apex says a high enough pretest score means you do “not have to complete every activity in the unit,” and mastered activities are marked complete. Otherwise, work a little every day, clear overdue computer-scored items first, and turn in teacher-scored work early so grading does not lag.
What grade do you need to pass Apex Learning?
It depends on your school. In one district’s Apex coach-report guide, a Quality of Work below 60% is failing, and falling behind on due dates can still cost you full credit for the course. Ask your teacher for your course’s cutoff.
What does red mean in Apex Learning?
Red means 59% or less of the activities due so far were turned in on schedule. The district guide says “a failing number of assignments have not been submitted.” Check your Enrollment Details Report to see whether the overdue items are unsubmitted or just ungraded.
Can you copy and paste on Apex Learning?
Not during an active assessment. Apex’s integrity guide says students “are prevented from copying answers from another web browser or document while an assessment is active,” and schools can make quizzes closed-book.
Why is my Apex Learning test locked?
Usually because your school uses proctoring, auto-proctoring or mastery-based learning. A proctored test opens only when a teacher or mentor unlocks it and re-locks after 30 minutes of inactivity, and mastery settings keep a test closed until earlier activities are done. Message your teacher to unlock it.
Is there an Apex Learning answer key?
Not one that matches your quiz. Apex Learning says computer-scored assessments “are designed so that no two students take the same assessment and any retakes are original to the student.” Questions are drawn at random from question banks, and the questions and answer options are shuffled. Our Apex Learning answer key guide covers what Apex shows after you answer and what teachers see, and our page on how to get Apex Learning quiz and test answers says what each AI tool for Apex does.
Are overdue Apex activities still worth doing?
Usually yes. Past-due activities often still accept work for partial or full credit depending on your teacher's late-penalty settings, so it's worth asking your instructor how it's configured in your course.
Is Apex Vision AI the same as Apex Learning?
No. Apex Learning is courseware for grades 6 to 12 (apexlearning.com now redirects to Edmentum). Apex Vision AI is an unrelated browser extension and app that helps answer homework questions.
Can Silent Student do Apex Learning?
Yes, for studies, practices, and multiple-choice or multi-select quizzes and tests, and it submits as it goes. It does not do written responses, locked or proctored activities, and it does not promise a grade. It is built mainly for college Canvas courses, so check your school’s rules first.