diff --git a/portal/portal/academy/migrations/0011_alter_grade_notebook_alter_grade_score.py b/portal/portal/academy/migrations/0011_alter_grade_notebook_alter_grade_score.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..63d24a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/portal/portal/academy/migrations/0011_alter_grade_notebook_alter_grade_score.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Generated by Django 4.2.14 on 2024-10-01 18:09
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+import portal.academy.models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+    dependencies = [
+        ("academy", "0010_grade_on_time"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name="grade",
+            name="notebook",
+            field=models.FileField(
+                blank=True, null=True, upload_to=portal.academy.models.notebook_path
+            ),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name="grade",
+            name="score",
+            field=models.FloatField(blank=True, null=True),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/portal/portal/academy/models.py b/portal/portal/academy/models.py
index 8dc57db..a61fb23 100644
--- a/portal/portal/academy/models.py
+++ b/portal/portal/academy/models.py
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ class Grade(models.Model):
     )
     unit = models.ForeignKey(Unit, on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name="grades")
     created = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
-    notebook = models.FileField(upload_to=notebook_path, null=True)
+    notebook = models.FileField(upload_to=notebook_path, null=True, blank=True)
 
     STATUSES = (
         ("never-submitted", "Unsubmitted"),
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ class Grade(models.Model):
     status = models.CharField(
         max_length=1024, choices=STATUSES, default="never-submitted"
     )
-    score = models.FloatField(null=True)
+    score = models.FloatField(null=True, blank=True)
     message = models.TextField(blank=True)
     feedback = models.FileField(upload_to=feedback_path, null=True)
     on_time = models.BooleanField(default=True)
diff --git a/portal/portal/grading/services.py b/portal/portal/grading/services.py
index e17681b..dccfb83 100644
--- a/portal/portal/grading/services.py
+++ b/portal/portal/grading/services.py
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ def get_env(self):
             grader = get_user_model().objects.create(
                 username=settings.GRADING_USERNAME,
                 email="grading@grading.org",
+                is_staff=True,
             )
 
         # Check if grader already has an auth token