Frequently Asked Questions

Criteria Guru is an AI-powered essay evaluation tool designed specifically for IB MYP students. It provides instant, criterion-based feedback on essays to help students understand their strengths and areas for improvement. We analyze your work against official IB MYP criteria and provide actionable guidance—without writing your essay for you.

Simply go to the Submit page, upload your essay (Word, ODT, or text), select your subject and the criteria you want feedback on (A, B, C, D), and submit. You'll receive comprehensive feedback within 5 minutes. No signup required for your first submission!

No account is required for your first free essay evaluation. However, creating an account allows you to save your submission history, track progress over time, and access additional features. Registration takes less than a minute.

We support Microsoft Word documents (.docx, .doc), OpenDocument Text files (.odt), and plain text (.txt). Your essay should be between 300-3000 words for optimal feedback quality.

Criteria Guru supports all MYP years (1-5) across all major subjects including Language & Literature, Individuals & Societies (History, Geography, Economics), Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics), Arts, Design, and interdisciplinary subjects. Each subject is evaluated using the appropriate IB assessment criteria.

You can receive comprehensive feedback within 5 minutes of uploading your essay. This allows for rapid iteration and improvement before final submission. During peak times, feedback may take up to 10 minutes.

You receive detailed criterion-by-criterion analysis including: (1) Band level assessment (1-8 scale) for each selected criterion, (2) Specific strengths identified in your work, (3) Areas for improvement with concrete examples, (4) Actionable tips on how to reach higher band levels, (5) Alignment with official IB MYP descriptors.

Absolutely! We encourage iterative improvement. Submit your essay, review the feedback, make revisions, and resubmit to track your progress. This is one of the best ways to learn and improve your writing skills.

No, we do not offer plagiarism detection. Our focus is on providing educational feedback to help you improve your own writing. For plagiarism checking, consult your school or use dedicated plagiarism detection services.

Unlike tools that rewrite your work or generate content, Criteria Guru acts as a coach. We analyze and advise, never doing the work for you. Our feedback is based on official IB MYP criteria, helping you learn rather than take shortcuts. We teach you how to improve, not what to write.

No. Using feedback to improve your own work is an essential part of learning—similar to getting feedback from a teacher or tutor. Criteria Guru helps you understand assessment criteria and identify areas for improvement. However, submitting AI-generated content or plagiarizing feedback would violate academic integrity.

We do not share your usage with schools or teachers unless you choose to share your feedback reports. However, we strongly encourage transparent use—many teachers recommend our service as a self-checking tool before final submission.

Absolutely! Teachers use Criteria Guru to help students self-check before final submission, reinforce classroom teachings with consistent criterion-aligned feedback, and reduce time spent on repetitive feedback. We offer educator accounts with class management features.

Yes. We strictly adhere to GDPR and SOC II principles. We do not use your submitted data or essays for training our AI models. Your work remains yours with industry-standard security measures including encryption in transit and at rest. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Your essays are securely stored in your account for your reference and to track progress. They are encrypted and accessible only to you. We never share, sell, or use your essays to train AI models. You can delete your submissions at any time.

We only share information with trusted service providers necessary to operate the platform (e.g., cloud hosting, AI providers), all under strict data processing agreements. We never sell your data or use it for advertising. See our Privacy Policy for complete details.

Essay submissions are retained for 12 months or until you delete them. Account information is kept while your account is active. Upon account deletion, all data is permanently removed from active systems within 30 days and from backups within 90 days.

We offer a free trial that includes your first essay evaluation at no cost. After that, we have flexible pricing plans based on the number of essays you want to submit per month. Visit our Pricing page for current rates and plan details.

We accept all major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) and PayPal. All payments are processed securely through industry-standard payment processors.

Yes, you can cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings. There are no cancellation fees, and you'll retain access until the end of your current billing period.

We offer a 14-day money-back guarantee if you haven't processed any essay submissions. If you're not satisfied, contact us within 14 days of purchase for a full refund.

Yes! We offer special pricing for schools, tutoring centers, and bulk purchases. Contact us at support@criteriaguru.com for educational institution pricing.

Our AI is trained on IB MYP criteria and validated by IB educators. While highly accurate, AI feedback should supplement—not replace—teacher guidance. We continuously improve our models based on educator feedback. Remember, final grades are determined by trained IB assessors.

We use a multi-engine approach combining OpenAI GPT-4, Anthropic Claude, and Google Gemini models, each selected for specific evaluation tasks. This ensemble approach provides more comprehensive and reliable feedback than any single model.

AI feedback is guidance, not absolute truth. If you disagree, discuss it with your teacher—that's valuable critical thinking! Our feedback shows one perspective based on IB criteria, but your teacher's judgment is what matters for actual grading.

Yes! Our platform is fully responsive and works on smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. You can upload essays and view feedback from any device with an internet connection.

We maintain 99.9% uptime, but technical issues can occur. Check our status page or contact support@criteriaguru.com. If your submission fails, you won't be charged, and we'll prioritize resolving your issue.

Yes. We comply with children's privacy laws including COPPA and GDPR. We collect only necessary information, never use student data for marketing, and parents can review or delete their child's data anytime. Our platform promotes ethical learning without plagiarism.

Parents can create accounts to submit essays on behalf of younger students or access their child's submission history (with the child's permission). We also provide progress reports showing improvement over time.

No—our goal is to teach skills, not create dependency. Criteria Guru helps students understand assessment criteria and develop independent critical thinking. We provide guidance on how to improve, not answers to copy.

Common solutions: (1) Check file format (Word, ODT, or TXT), (2) Ensure essay is between 300-3000 words, (3) Check file size (max 10MB), (4) Try a different browser, (5) Contact support with error details if issue persists.

Feedback typically arrives within 5 minutes. Check your account dashboard or email (including spam folder). If more than 15 minutes have passed, contact support@criteriaguru.com with your submission ID.

Click "Forgot Password" on the login page and enter your email. You'll receive a password reset link within a few minutes. Check your spam folder if you don't see it.