The impact of submission timing on students’ final grades: Mindset as an academic predictor

Abstract

The time students take to submit their exam may influence their final grades, as it reflects not only their prior preparation but also their underlying behavioral profiles. In this regard, literature highlights the role of mindset in shaping how individuals approach tasks. Students with a fixed mindset tend to exhibit slower responses due to fear of failure and avoidance of challenges, often delaying task completion and the moment of submission. In contrast, those with a growth mindset are more proactive, persistent, and focused on improvement, which may lead to faster and more efficient execution. In the world population, there is a predominance of people with a fixed mindset. Consistent with this, our data show that a majority of students submit their exams in the final time slots of the exam (around 60% of students). Likewise, both high- and low-performing students can hold either type of mindset, implying that high academic performers may deliver in the first time slots (when holding a growth mindset) and in the last ones (when holding a fixed mindset). Supporting this idea, our analysis reveals that the highest average grades are achieved both in the earliest (+12%) and latest (+4%) submission slots, whereas the lowest performance is observed in intermediate periods, following a U-shaped relationship. To deepen the analysis, we also examine the behavior followed by the 'top 10’ best and 'top 10’ worst students in the class. Consistent with prior general submission pattern, both groups are mainly present in the final time slot. Therefore, it could be argued that students who take more time to complete their exams tend to obtain both the highest but also the lowest results of the class. Overall, our findings highlight the relevance of understanding submission patterns for educators, as they can better interpret students’ needs during exams, anticipate peak workloads to increase invigilation, and avoid misinterpreting early or late submissions from potential high-performing students.