What does EX mean on Canvas?
EX is short for Excused. Instructure’s student guide to the Grades page lists it as “Excused assignment; this assignment cannot be submitted but does not factor into your overall grade.” It appears in place of a score: “Excused assignments are noted by EX in the points column.”
Your instructor sets it. In the Gradebook they choose Excused in the Grade Detail Tray, or type EX in the assignment’s cell. Instructure says that once an assignment is excused, both the assignment page and your Grades page show that you have been excused from it. The status itself, in Instructure’s words, “indicates that the student has been excused from making a submission.”
Is excused the same as a 0, a dash or Missing?
No. Each mark on the Grades page means something different, and only some of them change your grade:
| What you see | What Instructure says it means | Effect on your grade |
|---|---|---|
| EX | Excused; “cannot be submitted but does not factor into your overall grade” | Left out of your total |
| 0 | “Grade shown by number of points” | A real score that counts |
| Dash | “No submission” | No score yet: left out of the current grade, counted in the total grade |
| Missing label | “An online assignment that has not been submitted and is past the due date” | Counts once it has a score, which a missing-work policy can give it |
| Grade info icon | “Points earned from this assignment do not count toward your final grade” | None, but you should still submit it |
| Gray text | Dropped by an assignment group rule | “Does not factor into your total score” |
The grade info icon is easy to mix up with EX, because neither counts. Instructure is clear that they differ: “You should still submit this assignment unless it has been excused by your instructor.” A dash can also stay after you submit an external tool assignment, so a dash on its own doesn’t mean you are excused. How Missing work is labeled is in how to see missing assignments on Canvas.
If your Grades page shows no total at all, that is a separate course setting; see why a Canvas total grade is hidden.
How does an excused assignment affect your grade?
It drops out of the calculation. Instructure’s instructor guide says “Excused assignments are not calculated as part of a student’s total grade.” In our reading, the assignment’s points earned and points possible both leave the math, so it can’t pull your grade up or down. A made-up points course with a 20-point quiz, a 50-point lab and a 30-point essay:
| The essay is | Calculation | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Excused (EX) | (18 + 45) ÷ (20 + 50) | 90% |
| Scored 0 | (18 + 45 + 0) ÷ 100 | 63% |
| Not graded, current grade | (18 + 45) ÷ 70 | 90% |
| Not graded, total grade | (18 + 45) ÷ 100 | 63% |
An excused assignment and one that isn’t graded yet give the same current grade. The difference shows in the total grade, which counts ungraded work and leaves excused work out. In a course with weighted assignment groups, an excused assignment shrinks its group’s points possible, so the other assignments in that group count for more. The Canvas grade calculator has a section on excused and dropped work that does the weighted version. To test a score before it’s entered, see how What-If grades work in Canvas.
Can you still submit an excused assignment?
No. Instructure says “Students cannot submit excused assignments.” If you had already turned it in before your instructor excused it, your work isn’t lost from view: “Students who submit assignments that are marked EX can still see their scores when viewing their own grades.” The assignment still stays out of your total.
Who can excuse an assignment, and can it be undone?
Instructure documents excusing only in instructor tools: the Gradebook’s Grade Detail Tray, typing EX in a Gradebook cell, and SpeedGrader. Instructors change statuses “as needed,” so an excused assignment can be switched back to another status, and then it counts again. Instructure’s guides don’t list reasons for excusing work; that is your instructor’s call, and they are the one to ask.
Group assignments have one wrinkle. “Excusing an individual student in the Gradebook excuses only that student,” Instructure says, but “in SpeedGrader, excusing a group submission excuses every student in the group.” If your whole group shows EX, that may be why.
Questions people ask
What does EX mean on Canvas?
EX means Excused. Your instructor has excused you from the assignment, so you can’t submit it and it doesn’t count toward your total grade.
Is excused good or bad on Canvas?
Neither. An excused assignment adds no points and costs you none. Your grade is worked out from your other assignments, so each of them counts for a little more.
Does an excused assignment count as a zero?
No. Instructure says excused assignments are not calculated in your total grade. A score of 0 is a real grade and does count.
Can I still submit an assignment that is excused?
No. Instructure says students cannot submit excused assignments. If you had already submitted before it was excused, you can still see your score on your Grades page.
What is the difference between excused and missing on Canvas?
Missing means an online assignment is past due with no submission, and it can carry a score. Excused means your instructor has taken the assignment out of your grade, and you can’t submit it.
Can my instructor change an excused assignment back?
Yes. Excused is a status your instructor sets in the Gradebook, and they can switch it to another status. Ask them if you think it was excused by mistake.
Sources
All fetched and checked October 20, 2026.
- How do I change the status of a submission in the Gradebook? (Instructure, instructor guide)
- How do I use the icons and colors in the Grades page? (Instructure, student guide)
- How do I view my grades in a current course? (Instructure, student guide)
How this guide was made. We read each Instructure guide listed above on October 20, 2026 and quote them directly. The worked example is a made-up course calculated with Instructure’s rule that excused work is not calculated in the total grade. We wrote the guide with AI assistance and checked each quote against its source.
Related guides: How do you see missing assignments on Canvas? · How does the Canvas late penalty work? · How do What-If grades work in Canvas? · Why is my Canvas total grade hidden? · All guides · Canvas · Canvas grade calculator
Written by the company that makes Silent Student. Silent Student is not affiliated with or endorsed by Instructure. Canvas and Instructure are trademarks of Instructure, Inc.