Certificate & Assessment Criteria
How a Scratch Creators (ages 7–11) student earns their certificate: the completion gate, the three unit-project rubrics plus the capstone, and the Bronze/Silver/Gold grading scale.
This page explains how a student earns the Scratch Creators certificate. It is written for the instructor, but the requirements are simple enough to share with students and families so everyone knows what "finishing the course" means.
How a student earns the certificate:
How a student earns the certificate
To earn the certificate, a student needs to do all three of these:
- Take part in most of the course — attend or complete at least 10 of the 12 sessions (Sessions 1–12). Missed sessions can be caught up with the homework.
- Pass the three unit projects — reach Proficient or above on at least 2 of the 3 unit projects (Bring a Sprite to Life, A Game with Rules & a Score, Your Own Playable Game).
- Complete the capstone — finish the Design, Build & Present a Game capstone at Developing or above and present it to the class.
A student who meets all three earns the Scratch Creators Certificate.
Overall grade scale
Each rubric level is a step up from Emerging to Exemplary:
The four rubric levels map onto a Bronze / Silver / Gold badge. Look at how a student did across the three unit projects and the capstone and award the level that best matches their typical work:
| Rubric levels reached | Creator badge | Also written as |
|---|---|---|
| Mostly Emerging / Developing | Bronze Creator | Pass |
| Mostly Proficient | Silver Creator | Merit |
| Mostly Proficient / Exemplary | Gold Creator | Distinction |
Every student who meets the completion gate earns at least Bronze — a real achievement. Silver and Gold recognise students whose projects are consistently strong and polished.
How to assess fairly
- Score the work, not the child. Judge what they built against the rubric words, not how loud or quiet they are.
- Best evidence counts. If a student improves a project after feedback, grade the improved version — this course is about learning, not first tries.
- Effort and problem-solving matter. A simple game that's finished, tested and explained well can score higher than an ambitious one that doesn't run.
- Give the level, then one next step. Always pair a score with one specific, kind thing they could do better next time.
- Low-tech is not lower. A paper game design and a clear pitch can meet the criteria — assess the thinking, not just the blocks.
- No child leaves empty-handed. A student who hasn't reached the bar gets a short, clear list of what to finish and a chance to redo one project. The goal is that everyone becomes a Scratch Creator.
A note for students
Every coder starts somewhere. Bronze, Silver, and Gold are all real achievements — they show how far you pushed your own ideas. The best game-makers aren't the ones who never hit a bug; they're the ones who test their game, fix what's broken, and keep building. Be proud of what you made.