How students take an exam

This guide walks through an exam from the student’s side: where they find it, what they see before they start, how they answer and submit, and what their results look like. It also shows how visitors can try an exam marked as a free preview, without signing up. You can share this page with your students.

In this video · 2:58

1. 0:00Find the exam
2. 0:16Before you start
3. 0:34Answer
4. 1:17Submit
5. 1:38The result
6. 1:55Visitors

Read the narration

1. 0:06Here is how a student takes an exam, and how a visitor can try a free one.
2. 0:13Open exams wait under Needs you on the student’s dashboard. Click Attempt.
3. 0:19First, a summary: the questions, the marks, the time limit and when it closes.
4. 0:25There is one attempt, and the clock keeps running even if the student leaves the page.
5. 0:32Click Start exam, and the timer starts.
6. 0:35Questions come one at a time. Every answer saves on its own.
7. 0:40The timer is at the top. The list on the right shows what is answered.
8. 0:47Next moves on.
9. 0:53Our student skips question 3 for now.
10. 0:56A written answer is typed in, with a word count.
11. 1:08Question 5 asks for a file. It is optional, so it can be left blank.
12. 1:14All shows every question on one page.
13. 1:18Click Submit. LessonQ checks first: one required question is still blank.
14. 1:25Go to question 3 jumps straight to it.
15. 1:28Answer it, then submit.
16. 1:33After submitting, the answers can’t be changed.
17. 1:38This exam shows results at once. The written answer waits for the teacher, so the score is provisional.
18. 1:45Below, each question shows the answer given, whether it was right, and the explanation.
19. 1:52When you hold results, students see them only after you publish.
20. 1:57This exam is a free preview, so anyone can try it, even without an account.
21. 2:03On the course page, it has a Free preview tag.
22. 2:10Visitors are told that nothing is saved, and that results show as soon as they submit.
23. 2:16Click Start preview.
24. 2:19They answer just like a student.
25. 2:35Choice questions are marked at once. Written answers are not marked in a preview.
26. 2:41Start again tries once more. Enrol to take it for real leads to the course.
27. 2:48More guides are at help.lessonq.com.

Where students find it

A student must be signed in and enrolled in the course. Their exams and assignments appear in three places:

• Dashboard → Needs you. Every exam that is open now, or opens within a week (in a course where lessons unlock in order, only the next one they must do), with Attempt (open now) or View (not open yet), and how long until it closes.
• The course page. In its lesson on the Lessons tab, and on the Exams and Assignments tabs. Those two tabs show each one’s status: Not started, In progress, Submitted, Graded, Late, Timed out or Missed.
• The course’s lesson view. In the course outline on the left, between the other lesson items.

1. Attempt. Opens the exam.

Before starting

An exam opens on a short summary. An assignment skips it and opens ready to answer.

1. About this paper. How many questions, the total marks, the time limit and when it closes.
2. The rules. One attempt only. The clock keeps running if they leave the page. How many questions must be answered. When results appear: as soon as they submit, or when you publish them.
3. Start exam. Starts the attempt, and the timer with it.

If the exam hasn’t opened yet, students see when it opens, with a countdown. After the deadline, they see that it closed, unless late submissions are allowed: then the button reads Start late attempt, and the paper is marked late.

Answering

1. Timer. The time left. It turns amber at 5 minutes and red at 1. At zero, the paper is submitted automatically.
2. Saved. Every answer saves on its own, a moment after it’s given. If the connection drops, LessonQ keeps trying and shows Not saved until it gets through.
3. One by one / All. Exams start one question at a time; assignments start with all of them on one page. Students can switch any time.
4. Question list. Every question as a number: filled in when answered, with a dot on a required question that’s still blank. Click a number to go to it.
5. Submit. Hands the paper in (below).

How each kind of question is answered:

• Multiple choice: click an option, or several when it says Select all that apply. Click again to clear it.
• True / False: click True or False.
• Written answer: type in the box. A word count shows if there’s a limit, and turns red when they go over it.
• File upload: click or drop files into the box. It shows how many files, how large and which types are allowed.

Previous and Next at the bottom move between questions. A required question is marked with a *: red while it’s blank, green once answered.

Refreshing, a second tab, or a lost connection

The paper is the same every time it opens: same questions, same order, same answers so far. The timer keeps running even while the page is closed, so leaving the page doesn’t stop the clock.

Submitting

Click Submit. Before anything is handed in, LessonQ shows where the student stands.

1. Answered, Not answered, Required left. Questions left blank count as unanswered. Optional ones can stay blank.
2. Go to question… If a required question is blank, the paper can’t be submitted yet. This link jumps straight to it.

When nothing required is missing, Submit exam (or Submit assignment) hands the paper in. Answers can’t be changed after that, and there is no second attempt unless you allow one.

The result

What students see next depends on the exam’s result settings.

When you hold results (the default), they see that their paper was submitted, and that results come when you publish them:

1. Results are released by your instructor. Nothing more shows until you publish.

When results are shown, they see what your settings allow:

• their score (with Score ticked);
• the number of answers that were correct, wrong, skipped and awaiting marking (with Correct answers ticked);
• a Provisional tag while you still have written answers or files to mark. The score updates as you mark them, the next time they open or return to the page;
• the paper below, with their own answers, the correct ones, the explanations, and your notes. Each part shows only if your settings allow it.

1. Score and counts. Their marks, and how many answers were correct, wrong or skipped.

1. Your note. The feedback you wrote while marking, under their answer and the model answer. It shows when Explanations is ticked.

If the correct answers are set to show only after the deadline, students see when they’ll appear.

Visitors: free-preview exams

An exam set to Free preview can be taken by anyone: visitors with no account, and members who haven’t enrolled. It’s a sample of your course, and nothing a visitor answers is saved.

1. On the course page, the Lessons tab shows the exam with a Free preview tag. Other lessons stay locked.
2. Clicking it opens the exam’s summary, with a note that answers aren’t saved and that results show as soon as they submit.
3. Start preview starts the paper, with the same timer and questions as a student gets.
4. After submitting, the result shows straight away.

1. Free preview note. Nothing is saved; results show on submit. Enrol to take it for real leads to the course.
2. Start preview. Starts the paper.

1. Start again. A fresh paper. Visitors can try as often as they like.
2. Enrol to take it for real. Opens the course, where they can enrol.

In a preview, multiple choice and true / false are marked at once. Written answers aren’t marked, and file questions are optional, because visitors can’t upload files. If they refresh the page mid-paper, their answers and timer come back, as long as the tab stays open.

What if…

A student can’t find the exam. Check that they’re enrolled and signed in, that the exam isn’t Hidden, and that it has opened. In a course where lessons unlock in order, they must finish the items before it first.

A student says You’ve already taken this. Each student gets one attempt. To let them try again, reset their progress and attempts (see Grade and publish results).

The Submit exam button stays grey. In the submit window, the button stays grey while a required question is still blank or a file is still uploading. The Go to question link there jumps to the blank one.

A student’s time ran out before they submitted. Their paper was submitted for them, with everything they’d answered. If every required question was answered, it counts as a normal submission. If one was blank, their result says Time ran out, and the exam shows Timed out.

A student lost their internet in the middle. Their answers up to the last Saved are kept, and they can reopen the paper to carry on. The timer didn’t stop meanwhile.

A visitor wants to keep their result. Preview results are never saved. They need to enrol and take the exam as a student.