One of the advantages of our move to Blackboard Ultra is the ongoing potential for new feature releases and updates. New releases take place on the first Thursday of every month, which is much more frequently than for Blackboard Original. We will communicate about new features and changes via this blog. If you want to be kept up to date with the latest information, we recommend subscribing to the blog.
This release has new or updated features in the following areas:
- Instructional design;
- Communication and collaboration;
- Tests and assignments;
- Learner progression and personalised experience;
- Gradebook;
- Blackboard Core.
These improvements impact instructors, students, and administrators. Below you’ll find our highlights, and more detail on the most relevant updates.
Highlights
Add dividers to documents
Instructors can now add divider blocks to Documents. Dividers provide a clear way to structure a Document into sections. They can be resized to span up to four columns.


Create jumbled sentence questions
Instructors can now create jumbled sentence questions for tests. This question type lets instructors define one or more paragraphs with blanks for students to complete. Additionally, instructors can:
- Add distractors
- Add automated feedback for correct and incorrect answers
- Designate questions as extra credit
- Use accessibility tools, such as keyboard-only workflows, to create this question type
To create a Jumbled Sentence question, enter the question text and define the blanks by enclosing the correct answers in square brackets (see image below).
![Screenshot of creating a jumbled sentence question. The question text reads:
Single water molecules are held together by [covalent] bonds and multiple water molecules are held together by [hydrogen] bonds. The kind of bond where atoms are sharing electrons but are not sharing them equally is [polar covalent bond].](https://blackboard.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/files/2025/06/jumbled-sentence.png)
Please see the Release Notes for further information.
Unread discussion post indicator
An indicator has been added to the Discussions tab which shows the number of unread discussion posts from anywhere in a course.

Other updates include:
Perform bulk category changes in item management
Enhanced overall appearance and usability of knowledge checks
Please see the Release notes for full details on other updates in this release.
Further help and support
For more guidance on using Blackboard Ultra please explore Ultra Essential Guidance.
Students can view an Ultra orientation and advice on using Ultra from their Help for Students sections (or equivalent) in your Blackboard course.