Managing Ratings and Rating Scales

Ratings classify response scores into groups or bands that drive the feedback text shown in your reports. You define a set of rating bands (for example, Developing, Competent, and Advanced) and then write specific feedback text for each band at every level of your assessment - from the overall assessment down to individual sections, subsections, and segmentations.

An assessment normally has multiple rating records. For example, they may be:

• Red, Orange, Green
• Competency Levels
• Grades (A+, A, etc.)

They can have any label you like, any score range, and you can have any number of them.

Ratings and the Assessment Hierarchy

When you create rating bands in Brilliant Assessments, you are defining a set of score thresholds that apply across your entire assessment. However, the feedback text you write for each band can be different at every level of the hierarchy. This is what makes ratings powerful - the same set of bands drives personalised, level-specific feedback throughout your reports.

The diagram below shows how this works. You define your rating bands once (for example, Developing, Competent, and Advanced), and then write unique feedback text for each band at every level you want to report on:

Rating List

The Rating List screen shows all the ratings defined for your assessment and provides links to manage rating text at each level.

1. Add Rating. Click "Add Rating" to create a new rating band. A pop-up box appears where you can set the name, maximum score, and colour.
2. Advanced Ratings. Click "Advanced Ratings" to toggle the display of additional Rating Types. Advanced Ratings let you add separate Rating Types beyond the default Base Rating Type, each with their own bands and scores. You can then report on alternate Rating Types using the RatingType parameter. Read more on Advanced Ratings.
3. Edit / Segmentations / Sections / Subsections. Click "Edit" to modify an existing rating. Click "Segmentations", "Sections", or "Subsections" to view and edit the rating text at each of those levels. This is where you write the level-specific feedback described in the hierarchy diagram above.
4. Save / Save and Close / Save and go to Assessment Builder.

Rating Edit

The Rating Edit form is where you configure each individual rating band, including its score threshold, colour, and feedback text.

Basic Fields

1. Rating Name. The rating name is generally internal to the system. The Rating Text is what appears in the feedback report.
2. Assessment. The assessment that this rating applies to.
3. Maximum Score. The maximum score for this rating. The next highest score implies the minimum score. If there are no lower maximum scores, this record will apply from 0. This score is always a percentage but entered as a whole number (e.g. 66 = 66%). If you are using Likert scoring, convert the Likert score to a percentage. For example, if you had a rating that went to a maximum of 3.5 out of 5, the value would be 70: (3.5 / 5.0) x 100.
4. Rating Colour. Select a colour or enter the hex code. It is used on all graphics relating to the rating. Make sure you click Apply before you exit the colour picker.
5. Is Override. Select this if the rating is used as an Override (or Not Applicable). The Maximum Score should be set to zero. Read more in Using Overrides.
6. Certified Checkbox. This additional field appears if the Settings field "Certifications Issued" checkbox is ticked. If the system is being used to issue certifications, ticking this checkbox indicates that this rating passes the certification.

Rating Text

The Rating Text fields on the Rating Edit form are for the assessment-level feedback. This is the text that appears when you use assessment-level rating merge strings in your report. To write rating text at the section, subsection, or segmentation level, see Applying Rating Text Across Levels below.

7. Rating Text. You can have up to 5 separate versions of the Rating Text, and select which one to use on reports using the RepText parameter. The default is Report Text 1.
8. Save the Rating Text. Use this button to save rating text changes before displaying another Rating Text version.

Text Editor

9. Buttons Row 1:
   • Bold
   • Italics
   • Underline
   • Strikethrough
   • Align text left
   • Centre text
   • Align text right
   • Justify text
   • Bullet Points
   • Number
   • Indent (an additional Outdent button appears if Indent is selected)
   • Create a link to an external URL
   • Import an Image held on the Graphics table
   • Insert file (Not Available)
   • Add table. A selector is shown to pick the size of the table (rows and columns). Once a table has been added, additional buttons are shown to manage the table.
   • HTML - view and modify the underlying HTML for the text.
   • Format - Pick whether this text should be shown as a heading (1-4) or paragraph (normal text). The default is Paragraph.
10. Buttons Row 2:
    • Clear Formatting - Important for removing all of the hidden formatting when copying text from other systems.
    • Change the font. This will override the font of the merge string.
    • Change the size. This will override the size of the merge string.
    • Text colour
    • Background colour
    • Ruler - to place a light grey line across the text.
11. Buttons Row 3:
    • Insert Video from the Graphics table.
12. Merge Fields (Row 4). These fields are used for Question and Answer Piping.
    • Select Answer Text or Report Text (which you want to merge into the text).
    • Select the Question you wish to merge in the Answer or Report Text from. Displays a drop-down list.
    • Add. Clicking the Add button will insert the formatted merge string into the text at the cursor location.

13. Text. Enter the text to be shown on the report if this rating is attained.

Rating Image

14. Rating Image. If you have a badge or similar for different achievement ratings, it is uploaded here. The image is available for display in the Feedback Report. Make sure it is sized for how you want it to appear on the Feedback Report.
15. Current Image. The current image is shown here if one is uploaded.
16. Image Comment. If entered, this comment will be used as an Alt Tag for the image.

Applying Rating Text Across Levels

Once you have created your rating bands, the next step is to write feedback text at each level where you want personalised reporting. You do not need to write text at every level - choose the levels that are relevant to your assessment design and reporting needs.

Assessment Level

Assessment-level rating text provides a comprehensive summary of the respondent's overall performance. This is the broadest level of feedback and is written directly on the Assessment Settings > Ratings > Rating Edit form (field 13 in the Rating Edit section above).

Each rating band has its own text editor where you write the feedback for that band. When a respondent completes the assessment, the system calculates their overall score, matches it to a rating band, and displays the corresponding assessment-level text in the report.

Section Level

Section-level rating text gives targeted feedback for each section (theme or question grouping) in your assessment. To enter section-level rating text:

1. Go to the Assessment Builder > Go to the Section you want to edit
2. Click Edit
   
3. Select the rating band and write the feedback text for that rating
   
4. Repeat for each section that needs rating text.

For full details on section configuration, see Managing Assessment Sections.

Subsection Level

Subsection-level rating text offers more granular feedback within the standard assessment hierarchy. It lets you pinpoint specific competencies or skill areas within a section. To enter subsection-level rating text:

1. Go to the Assessment Builder > Go to Section > Subsection you want to edit
2. Click Edit the Subsection
3. Select the rating band and write the feedback text for that rating
4. Repeat for each subsection that needs rating text.

For full details on subsection configuration, see Managing Assessment Subsections.

Segmentation Level

Segmentation-level rating text provides feedback for cross-cutting groups of questions or answers that may span multiple sections and subsections. This is useful when you want to report on a theme (such as "Technical Skills" or "Communication") that does not align neatly with your section structure. To enter segmentation-level rating text:

1. Go to the Assessment Builder > Click Segmentations button
2. Go to the Segmentation you want to edit > Click Options
   
3. Select the rating band and write the feedback text for that rating.
4. Repeat for each segmentation that needs rating text.

For full details on segmentation setup, see Managing Assessment Segmentations.

Using Overrides

Overrides are used when a subsection is not applicable to the respondent (for example, the subsection questions are conditional) but you still want specific text to appear in the report for that subsection.

To set up an override:

1. Create an Override Rating. Add a new rating with a Maximum Score of 0 and the Is Override checkbox selected (field 5 on the Rating Edit form).
2. Configure the Subsection. On the subsection(s) where you want the override to apply, enter the rating text as normal. Then specify the answer that triggers the override using the Override Answer selector. See the Subsection Settings article for details.
3. Write Override Text. In the subsection rating text for the override rating, enter the text you want to appear when the subsection is not applicable.

Related Articles

• Configuring Assessment Scoring - understand how scores feed into ratings.
• Using Advanced Ratings - add additional Rating Types with separate scales.
• Configuring Ratings-Based Text - pull rating text into your Word report templates using merge strings.
• Setting Rating Colors and Chart Styles - customize rating colours for charts and visuals.
• Managing Assessment Sections - configure sections including section-level rating text.
• Managing Assessment Subsections - configure subsections including subsection-level rating text.
• Managing Assessment Segmentations - configure segmentations including segmentation-level rating text.

FAQs & Troubleshooting

Use the questions below to troubleshoot common issues with ratings.