Online CBT: Computer-Based Testing

Create timed multiple-choice tests, publish them to as many classes as you need, and get auto-marked results the moment a student submits.

Creating a test

1. Go to CBT → New Test
2. Enter title, description, duration (minutes), subject, and the classes that sit the test. Pick as many as you need, since one mock paper can cover every stream of a year group, or leave the selection empty to make it available to the whole school
3. Optionally set start and end times (leaves a window during which students can begin)
4. Add questions. Each one has a type (MCQ or True/False), marks, a correct answer, options, and optionally an image. Total marks are calculated automatically as the sum of every question's marks, so there is nothing to keep in sync by hand
5. When ready, click Publish, at which point the test becomes visible to assigned students

Assigning a test to several classes

A test's Classes field takes any number of classes. Every student in any of the selected classes sees the test in their Available Tests list and sits the same paper; results come back in one place, listing each candidate's class. Leaving the field empty is a deliberate choice with its own meaning: the test is open to every class in the school. Changing the selection later is only possible while the test is still a draft, in line with the rest of a test's settings.

Finding a test

The tests list is paged, and can be searched by title or narrowed by:

• Class. The tests that class sits. A test left open to every class is included, because those students sit it too.
• Audience. Tests for enrolled students, or entrance exams for guest candidates.
• Status. Draft, published or closed.
• Results. Whether candidates see their score the moment they submit, or it is held back for a teacher to release.

Filtering searches every test your school has, not just the page on screen. Teachers see only their own tests throughout, exactly as they always have.

Question types

• MCQ (Multiple Choice). Provide 2–4 options, mark one as correct
• True/False. Automatically generates True and False options

Importing questions from a file

Instead of adding questions one at a time, upload a whole question bank at once. On a test's Questions page, click Import Questions and upload a CSV or XLSX file. A downloadable template is provided in the dialog.

• Required columns: question, type (mcq or true_false), and correctAnswer
• Optional columns: optionA–optionD (at least two for MCQ), marks (default 1), and explanation
• For MCQ, correctAnswer is an option letter (A–D) or the exact option text; for true/false it is simply True or False
• The file is validated automatically as soon as you choose it, and any problem is reported row by row. Nothing is saved until you confirm the import, and an import is all-or-nothing: a file with any invalid row is rejected outright
• Total marks and question order update automatically, and the same rules apply as for manual entry, so questions cannot be imported once a student has submitted the test

Student experience

Students log in, go to Available Tests, and start their assigned test. A countdown timer starts. On submission (or when time expires), the test is auto-marked. If Show Results Immediately is enabled, results appear right away.

Questions are presented one at a time, on web and in the mobile app alike, with Previous and Next to move through the paper. Above the question is the candidate's position ("Question 4 of 20") and, below it, a numbered strip covering the whole paper: answered questions are filled in, the current one is ringed, and tapping any number jumps straight to it, so a question that was skipped is easy to find and come back to. Submit is available from any question, not only the last, and asks for confirmation if anything is still unanswered.

The timer runs against the deadline the server set when the candidate started, so closing the tab or reloading the page resumes the same countdown rather than granting more time. A paper submitted within a short grace period of the deadline (allowing for a slow connection) is marked normally. Past that, the candidate's answers are still saved in full and remain visible to staff, but the paper scores zero and is flagged auto-submitted. A teacher can review the answers and adjust the mark if the circumstances justify it.

Viewing results

From the test detail page, teachers and admins can see all student submissions with scores, percentages, and statuses. Individual answers can be reviewed. Long lists are paged, so an entrance exam with hundreds of candidates opens as quickly as a class test; Export downloads every candidate's result as a spreadsheet, not only the page on screen.

A test's questions are paged too, and each is numbered by its place on the paper rather than its place on the page, so question 24 is question 24 wherever you reached it from.

Test transcripts (PDF)

Every completed test can be opened or saved as a transcript, a branded PDF that captures the whole paper, question by question. It carries your school's letterhead and colours, and is the same document whoever opens it, so a printed copy sent home matches exactly what staff see on screen.

Each transcript states:

• The candidate's name, admission number and class, the test, subject and duration, when they started and submitted, and whether the paper was submitted normally or auto-submitted because time ran out
• A summary band: score, percentage, and how many questions were answered correctly, incorrectly, or left blank
• Then one block per question, in the test's own order: the question (with its image, where one was attached), every option, the option the candidate chose, the correct option, the marks awarded out of the marks available, and the teacher's explanation where one was written

Correct and chosen options are marked with a symbol, a tint and a word, not colour alone, so a transcript stays readable printed in black and white. A question is never split across a page break, and multi-page transcripts are numbered.

Who can get one, and when

Both actions are always available side by side: View opens the transcript in a viewer without leaving the page, and Download saves it as a PDF named after the candidate and the test.

Results release is respected. If a test does not have Show Results Immediately enabled, students and parents cannot open a transcript. They see the same "results will be released by your teacher" message the result screen shows, and a parent's Tests tab does not list the test at all until results are released. Staff are never blocked: your own marking is always available to you, which is what lets a teacher check a paper before releasing it to the class.

Because questions cannot be edited once anyone has submitted a test, a transcript always shows the answer key the submission was actually marked against.

On the phone

Tests are on the mobile app under More → CBT / Tests. Each row gives the subject, the classes it is assigned to, and its question count, mark total and time limit, with a Draft or Published tag; a test assigned to no class in particular is marked All classes.