Assign Different Points to Each Answer in Google Forms

Google Forms quiz mode only gives points for right answers. Here's how to give every option its own value, with a free Sheets formula or an add-on.

Say your form asks "What's your budget?" You want "Over $5,000" to be worth 10 points, "$1,000 to $5,000" worth 5 and "Under $1,000" worth 0. Then you want a total for each response. This guide covers three ways to get there, starting with the two that need no install.

Option 1: Quiz mode (built in, right or wrong only)

Quiz mode is the scoring Google Forms already has.

1. Open the Settings tab and turn on Make this a quiz.
2. Click a question, then click Answer key.
3. Mark the correct answer, type a point value for the question, and click Done.

The catch: points belong to the question, not to each option. Every answer you mark correct earns the full value. Every other answer earns 0. So quiz mode can do "10 or 0", but not "10, 5 or 0".

You can change a respondent's points by hand in the Responses tab under Individual. That's fine for a class of 20. It doesn't work for a lead form that gets new responses every day.

Quiz mode is still the right tool for tests with one correct answer per question. It also does something the other two options can't: it can show respondents their score after they submit.

Option 2: A lookup table in the linked Sheet (free)

If you want real per-answer points without installing anything, score the responses in Google Sheets. Here's a working setup for two questions.

Step 1: Link the form to a spreadsheet

In the form's Responses tab, click Link to Sheets and create a new spreadsheet. Responses land in a tab called Form Responses 1. Column A is the timestamp, and each question gets its own column in form order. In this example, column B is "What's your budget?" and column C is "When do you plan to buy?".

If your form collects email addresses, column B holds the email and every question moves one column to the right. Adjust the formulas below to match.

Step 2: Build a points table

Add a tab named Points and type each option next to its value. Copy the option text from the form so it matches exactly.

Each question gets its own table, so the same answer text (like "Yes") can be worth different points on different questions.

Step 3: Look up the points for every response

Add a tab named Scoring. Type headers in row 1: Budget, Timeline, Total. Then put these three formulas in row 2.

In A2:

=ARRAYFORMULA(IF('Form Responses 1'!A2:A="", , IFERROR(VLOOKUP('Form Responses 1'!B2:B, Points!A2:B4, 2, FALSE), 0)))

In B2:

=ARRAYFORMULA(IF('Form Responses 1'!A2:A="", , IFERROR(VLOOKUP('Form Responses 1'!C2:C, Points!D2:E4, 2, FALSE), 0)))

In C2:

=ARRAYFORMULA(IF('Form Responses 1'!A2:A="", , A2:A + B2:B))

What each part does:

• VLOOKUP(..., FALSE) finds the answer in your points table and returns the value next to it. FALSE means exact match.
• IFERROR(..., 0) turns a skipped question, or an answer missing from the table, into 0.
• IF('Form Responses 1'!A2:A="", , ...) leaves a row blank until a response arrives.
• ARRAYFORMULA runs the formula down the whole column, so new responses are scored as they come in.

Row 5 of Scoring always matches row 5 of Form Responses 1. Keep these formulas on their own tab. Google Forms adds a new row for each response, and formulas you type next to the responses don't copy themselves into those rows.

If your spreadsheet locale uses a comma as the decimal separator, use semicolons between arguments instead of commas.

Where the formula approach gets hard

• Checkboxes. All ticked options land in one cell, such as "CRM, Spreadsheet", so a plain VLOOKUP finds nothing. You have to split the cell, look up each piece and add them up. That breaks if an option's own text contains a comma.
• Grids. Each grid row becomes its own column, and each column needs its own lookup.
• Edits. Rename an option in the form and its row in the points table stops matching. Add an option and you have to widen the range, for example to Points!A2:B5.

For three or four multiple choice questions that rarely change, none of this matters. For a 20-question assessment, it adds up.

Option 3: Type points next to each option with Answer Points

Answer Points is a free Google Forms add-on we make at Coalball Labs. It does the Option 2 work for you, from inside the form.

1. Install Answer Points. In your form, click the puzzle-piece Add-ons icon and choose Answer Points > Set up scoring.
2. The sidebar lists every multiple choice, dropdown, checkbox, linear scale and grid question. Type a number next to each option. Negative and decimal points are fine. Click Save points.
3. Click Turn on auto-scoring. The add-on creates a Scores sheet in your Drive and adds a row for each new response: submitted time (UTC), email (if your form collects it), Total, Max, Percent, points per question and response ID.
4. Click Score existing responses to add everything submitted before you started.

It handles the cases that make formulas messy. Ticked checkboxes add up. Grid column points apply to every row, so you type them once. Linear scales score their own numbers by default, so a 1-to-5 scale scores 1 to 5 with no typing.

A few things to know:

• Points are matched to the exact option text. If you edit an option's wording, type its points again.
• New responses use your latest points. Click Score existing responses to rescore older rows.
• Respondents can't see their score, and the add-on can't send people to different sections based on their score. Google doesn't let add-ons change what respondents see.
• It runs on Google Apps Script in your Google account. Responses and scores aren't sent to our servers.

It's free during beta with no response limit. After beta, the free plan will score 100 responses per month.

Which should you use?

If you're unsure, start with the formulas on a copy of your form's responses. If you find yourself maintaining lookup tables every week, that's the point where an add-on saves time.

Try it on your form

Answer Points is free during beta. Install it, type your points, and click Score existing responses to see totals for the responses you already have.

Install Answer Points free

Setup details and the scoring rules for every question type are in the Guide & FAQ.