This article explains how OffSec’s Rating and Feedback System works and how learner feedback contributes to Community Rating. It covers where the rating experience appears, how responses are saved and submitted, and how combined difficulty ratings determine the Community Rating displayed for supported labs and Grimoires.
Rating and Feedback System
OffSec’s Rating and Feedback System allows learners to share feedback about supported labs and Grimoires. It replaces the previous single rating prompt with a short, multi-step experience that appears at relevant points during the learning journey.
What is the Rating and Feedback System?
The system helps OffSec understand:
- Your overall experience with the content
- The quality and usefulness of the content and guidance
- Its relevance to real-world security work
- What should be improved or retained
Most questions use a one-to-five-star scale. The final step allows you to provide optional written feedback.
Feedback is combined with responses from other learners to help OffSec monitor content quality and improve hands-on learning experiences.
Which content is supported?
The Rating and Feedback System is currently available for supported:
- Regular labs
- Grimoires
How does it work?
A short rating card appears at natural points in your progress: inline in the Lab tab after you start a machine, in the completion modal, in the Action Report tab.
Each card contains one question. After selecting an answer, the system automatically moves to the next question.
Navigation dots at the bottom of the rating card show the learner’s progress. Learners may return to a previously answered question and change their response before submitting the final written-feedback step.
Answers are saved immediately.
The final question allows learners to provide optional written feedback. Once the final step is submitted, the rating is complete and can no longer be edited or submitted again.
After submission, the learner will see the following confirmation:
Thank you for your time and feedback!
The learner’s overall star rating will also be displayed.
What questions will I be asked?
Learners may be asked to rate:
- Their overall experience with the lab or Grimoire
- The quality of the content and guidance
- Its relevance to real-world security work
- Anything that OffSec should fix or continue doing
The first four questions use a one-to-five-star scale. The final written-feedback question is optional.
Additional Information
Do I need to answer every question?
You must answer the four star-rating questions to move through the rating. The final written-feedback question is optional and may be left blank.
Can I change my answers?
You can change previously answered questions while the rating is still in progress.
Use the dots at the bottom of the card to jump back to a step you already answered and change it. You cannot skip ahead to a step you have not answered yet — each step unlocks the next one.
Once you submit the final step:
- Your rating is complete.
- All responses are locked.
- You can no longer edit or resubmit the rating.
- A thank-you confirmation appears with your overall star rating.
What happens after I submit the last step?
Once you submit the open-text step, your rating is final. The card shows a thank-you message along with your overall star rating, and none of your answers can be edited or resubmitted after that point.
If I answer some questions in the Lab tab, do I have to start over in the Action Report?
No. Your progress and answers carry across every surface for that piece of content. If you answer two questions in the Lab tab and later open the Action Report, it picks up exactly where you left off.
Community Rating
Community Rating shows how learners rate the difficulty of OffSec labs and Grimoires. It is based on feedback submitted through the Rating and Feedback System and may change as more learners share their experience.
What is Community Rating?
Community Rating is the difficulty label displayed on a lab or Grimoire’s Details panel.
The available difficulty labels are:
- Fundamental
- Intermediate
- Advanced
- Insane
Unlike the previous difficulty label, which was set when the content was created, Community Rating is based on ratings submitted by learners who have experienced the lab or Grimoire.
This means that the displayed difficulty is learner-driven and can better reflect the community’s experience over time.
Who is Community Rating available to?
Community Rating applies to supported:
- Regular labs
- Grimoires
Learning modules do not have a Community Rating and may be made available in the future.
How is Community Rating calculated?
One of the feedback questions asks:
How difficult did you find this lab?
OffSec calculates the weighted average of all submitted difficulty ratings. The result is rounded to the nearest whole star and mapped to the corresponding difficulty label.
| Rounded difficulty rating | Community Rating |
| 1 star | Fundamental |
| 2 stars | Intermediate |
| 3–4 stars | Advanced |
| 5 stars | Insane |
For example, an average rating of 3.6 is rounded to four stars and displayed as Advanced.
Your individual rating contributes to the combined average and does not immediately determine the displayed label by itself.
Where can I submit a difficulty rating?
The difficulty question is included in the Rating and Feedback System.
For regular labs, the rating experience may appear:
- In the Lab tab after starting a machine
- In the completion window
- In the Action Report tab after submitting all flags
For Grimoires, the rating may appear:
- In the completion window after all tasks are completed
- In the Action Report tab
Grimoires do not have a Lab-tab rating placement because they do not use a virtual machine.
Additional Information
Can Community Rating change?
Yes. Community Rating may increase or decrease as more learners submit feedback.
For example, a lab currently labeled Intermediate may later become Advanced if newer ratings increase its average difficulty score.
Does it matter when I submit my rating?
Your difficulty rating contributes to Community Rating in the same way whether you submit it before or after completing the content.
OffSec separately records whether feedback was submitted before or after completion. This supports content-quality analysis but does not change the weight of your rating.
What if I disagree with the Community Rating?
Submit your own difficulty rating through the Rating and Feedback System. Your feedback will contribute to the combined learner average.
Community Rating represents the overall experience of the learner community, so your personal experience may differ from the displayed label.
Will I need to restart the rating if it appears somewhere else?
No.
The rating uses shared progress across every location where it appears.
For example, if you answer two questions in the Lab tab and later open the Action Report, you will resume at the next unanswered question. Your previous answers will already be filled in.
If you have already completed the rating, the thank-you confirmation will appear wherever the rating component is displayed.
Does my rating count differently if I submit it before completing the content?
No. Your individual difficulty rating contributes to the Community Rating in the same way whether it is submitted before or after completing the lab or Grimoire.
However, OffSec records whether feedback was given before or after the learner fully completed the content.
This helps OffSec compare:
- First impressions: Feedback submitted before completion
- Informed verdicts: Feedback submitted after completing the content
This information supports content-quality analysis but does not change the weight of your individual rating.
Can I change my difficulty rating?
You can change an answered rating while the feedback flow is still in progress.
Once you submit the final step, all your responses are locked and can no longer be edited or submitted again.
Other important information
- Each response is saved as soon as it is selected.
- The difficulty question is one step within the wider Rating and Feedback System.
- Community Rating is based on the weighted average of learner submissions.
- The average is rounded to the nearest whole star before it is mapped to a difficulty label.
- Community Rating may change as more learners submit feedback.
- Only labs and Grimoires have a Community Rating.
- Feedback submitted before and after completion is tracked separately for content-quality analysis.
- The same rating progress is shared across the Lab tab, completion window, and Action Report where applicable.
Still need help?
Contact our Support team and include:
- The name of the lab or Grimoire
- The Community Rating currently displayed, if applicable
- A brief description of the issue