<p>This article examines university grading practices through the case of oral examinations in history, with the aim of conceptually and empirically explicating the modes of communication and the constellation of grade deliberations. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, it shows how examiners collaboratively engage in the production, deliberation, and legitimation of academic judgments. The focus lies on the dramaturgy of grade deliberations, analyzed along three reference points: (1)&#xa0;the objects of evaluation, (2)&#xa0;the subjects of evaluation, and (3)&#xa0;the evaluation audience. Grade deliberations emerge as acts of collective self-assurance, whose function is the construction of legitimate reasons for collectively binding grading decisions. With these analyses, the article contributes to the sociology of e/valuation by advancing the study of academic practices in higher education.</p>