WebPA
WebPA is a self-hosted web system for peer-moderated marking of student group work in higher education.
What WebPA is
WebPA is a self-hosted web system for peer-moderated marking of student group work in higher education. It combines peer and self-assessments with the group mark to calculate individual grades, and includes rubric scoring and moderation tools. The software is free and released under the GNU General Public License version 3. Administrators configure a local instance; the latest version lists PHP 7.4 or 8.0 and the MySQLi, Sessions and XML extensions as requirements. The standard installation does not include LTI support, but a separate extension can connect WebPA to LTI-compliant virtual learning environments and synchronize memberships, groups and grades when services are available. The connector documentation also describes services for Moodle and Canvas. The project says Loughborough support has ended, with archived documentation on GitHub and community support directed to the JISC mailing list. Setup guidance recommends environment variables for production credentials and changing the default administrator password after installation.
Good
- Free and licensed under GNU GPL version 3
- Combines peer and self-assessment with group marks
- Rubric scoring and moderation tools are included
- Optional LTI extension supports learning platform connections
Watch out
- Requires self-hosted installation and configuration
- LTI support is not included in the standard installation
- Loughborough project support has ended
Who it suits
WebPA is intended for higher-education teams of students doing group work and the staff who assess it. It suits institutions able to host and configure their own instance.
Verdict
WebPA provides a free, self-hosted approach to peer assessment for higher-education group work. Institutions should account for installation requirements and the separate LTI extension when planning to use it.
The facts
Each one read from WebPA's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Audience
- The project describes WebPA as an online peer assessment tool for higher education.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Hosting
- The installation instructions describe configuring the application, database credentials, and environment variables for a WebPA instance.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Initial setup
- The README says to change the default admin password after logging in and delete the install folder when setup is finished.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Installation
- The README gives Composer as a download method and also links to the repository's release page.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Integration services
- The LTI Connector can use available membership, group, outcome, and settings services to synchronize enrolments, groups, grades, and synchronization timestamps.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- WebPA is designed for teams of students doing group work in higher education.checked 4 Oct 2026
- LTI capabilities
- The LTI extension documentation describes connecting to LTI-compliant virtual learning environments and synchronizing memberships, groups, and grades when the relevant services are available.checked 4 Oct 2026
- LTI integration
- The standard installation does not include LTI support; the README says it can be added with a separate extension.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Maintainer
- The README says WebPA was originally developed by Loughborough University's Centre for Engineering and Design Education with financial support from JISC, and is maintained by open-source contributors.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Moodle and Canvas
- The LTI Connector page says its memberships and groups services are also available for Moodle and Canvas instances via their APIs.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Open source
- WebPA is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 3.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Open source license
- WebPA is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 3.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Pricing
- The project describes WebPA as freely available for everyone to use within their teaching.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Project status
- The project site says Loughborough's support for the WebPA Project has ended and archived documentation is available on GitHub.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- WebPA is an online peer assessment system for student teams, using peer and self-grading to help determine individual grades from a group mark.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Requirements
- The README lists PHP 7.4 or 8.0, with MySQLi, Sessions, and XML extensions enabled.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Security configuration
- The installation README advises using environment variables for production credentials because storing sensitive credentials in a .env file could be a security risk.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Security guidance
- The README advises using environment variables for production credentials because storing sensitive credentials in a .env file could be a security risk.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Self-hosted installation
- The project provides installation instructions for downloading WebPA and configuring a local instance.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Support
- The project site says Loughborough's support for WebPA has ended and points users to archived documentation and a JISC mailing list for community support.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Technical requirements
- The README lists PHP 7.4 or 8.0 and the MySQLi, Sessions, and XML extensions as requirements for the latest version.checked 4 Oct 2026
- VLE integration
- The LTI Connector page says it can integrate WebPA with LTI-compliant virtual learning environments, including Blackboard Learn, WebCT, and Moodle.checked 7 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- Learning platform integration
- LTI support is not included in the standard installation and can be added with an extension.checked 4 Oct 2026
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