Frequently Asked Questions
General
What is Penmate?
Penmate is an AI-powered writing assessment tool for English teachers. It evaluates student essays using Cambridge English assessment criteria and provides instant, consistent feedback with scores and suggestions for improvement.
Who is Penmate for?
Penmate is designed for English teachers who prepare students for international language exams (Cambridge English FCE, CAE, CPE), teach high school exam preparation courses, or want to improve students’ writing skills at levels B1 to C2.
Is Penmate a replacement for teachers?
No. Penmate is a tool that saves teachers time on marking. The teacher always remains the final authority. Penmate does not write assignments for students or make pedagogical decisions — it provides consistent, criteria-based assessment to support your work.
What CEFR levels does Penmate support?
Penmate supports B1 (Preliminary), B2 (First), C1 (Advanced), and C2 (Proficiency).
Assessment
How does Penmate assess student writing?
Every submission is evaluated across four criteria aligned with Cambridge English assessment scales: Content, Communicative Achievement, Organisation, and Language. Each criterion is scored on a 0–5 band scale with 0.5 increments. The overall score is the average of the four criteria.
Is the assessment consistent?
Yes. Unlike human markers, Penmate applies the same criteria in the same way every time. The same piece of writing will always receive the same evaluation, regardless of when or how many times it’s assessed.
How accurate is the assessment?
Penmate’s assessment model was trained on real exam samples and built on official Cambridge English assessment scales. It follows the same criteria and standards that human examiners use for Cambridge English exams.
Tasks & Assignments
What task types are available?
Penmate supports: Essay, Article, Email (formal and informal), Story, Report, Review, Letter (formal and informal), and Proposal. Available types depend on the CEFR level selected.
What’s the difference between Cambridge mode and Freestyle mode?
In Cambridge mode, Penmate generates the writing assignment for you — aligned with Cambridge English exam formats. In Freestyle mode, you write your own task instructions with full control over the content.
Can I reuse tasks?
Yes. You can assign the same task to different classes or student groups at any time. Each assignment is tracked independently.
Students
Do students need a Penmate account?
No. Students receive an email with a unique submission link. They can write and submit their work directly through the link without creating an account or logging in.
What do students see after submitting?
Students see their scores for each of the four criteria, an overall score, strengths, and specific areas for improvement.
Can students submit after the deadline?
No. Once the deadline passes, the submission link is no longer active.
Credits
What is a credit?
One credit equals one AI analysis of a student’s submission. Credits are shared across your organization.
How many trial credits do I get?
Institution accounts receive 100 trial credits. Personal accounts receive 50 trial credits.
What happens when credits run out?
Students can still submit their work, but evaluations will be queued until more credits are available. Purchase a credit package to resume.
How do I buy more credits?
Go to Organization Settings, select a credit package (XS, S, M, or L), and submit a credit request. You’ll receive an invoice by email. Credits are added once payment is confirmed.
AI Detection
Does Penmate detect AI-generated content?
Yes. Penmate includes built-in AI content detection. When enabled for a task, every submission is automatically analysed using multiple detection methods. Flagged submissions are highlighted in the teacher’s dashboard.
Can students see if their work was flagged?
No. AI detection results are visible only to teachers. Students do not see whether their submission was flagged.
How reliable is AI detection?
AI detection is a supporting tool, not a definitive verdict. No detection method is 100% accurate. Teachers should use professional judgement when reviewing flagged submissions.
Technical
What browsers does Penmate support?
Penmate works in all modern browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.
Is my data secure?
Yes. Penmate stores all data securely and does not share student data with third parties. The platform complies with data protection regulations.
Can I import students from Google Classroom?
Yes. Penmate supports direct import of class rosters from Google Classroom. See Google Classroom Integration for details.
Contact
How do I get help?
You can use the Zoe chatbot on this help site — she can answer questions about Penmate in any language. For other inquiries, email support@penmate.ai.