Create a question bank

A question bank is a set of questions that belongs to your academy, not to one course. You write the questions once, then use the same bank as an exam or an assignment in any lesson of any course. It can hold four kinds of question: multiple choice, true / false, written answer and file upload.

In this video · 2:38

1. 0:00Create the bank
2. 0:29Multiple choice
3. 1:05True / False
4. 1:21Written answer
5. 1:38File upload
6. 2:00Edit and reorder
7. 2:18Done

Read the narration

1. 0:05A question bank keeps your questions in one place. Write them once, use them in any course.
2. 0:12Open Exams and Assignments in the sidebar, then Question banks.
3. 0:18Click New question bank and give it a name.
4. 0:26Click Create. The bank opens, ready for questions.
5. 0:31Add question lists every kind of question you can write.
6. 0:36Let's start with Multiple choice.
7. 0:39Type the question, then the options.
8. 0:53Tick the correct option, and LessonQ marks this question for you.
9. 0:58On the right, you see the question just as a student will.
10. 1:03Click Add question to save it.
11. 1:06True / False works the same way: write a statement, then pick the right answer.
12. 1:21With a Written answer, students explain in their own words, and you mark it.
13. 1:32Add a word limit if you like, and set how many marks it is worth.
14. 1:38With File upload, students send their answer as a file, like a scanned page.
15. 1:49It takes one PDF of up to 10 MB to start with. You can change both.
16. 2:00Click any question to change it. Here we add an explanation for the results.
17. 2:10Click Save changes.
18. 2:13To change the order, drag a question by the dotted handle on its left.
19. 2:18The bank is ready: four questions, 12 marks in all.
20. 2:23Preview shows the whole bank the way a student sees it.
21. 2:28More guides are at help.lessonq.com.

Before you start

• Who can do this: the academy owner and admins. Instructors can too, if they have the Curriculum Management permission on a course (new instructors get it by default).
• What you need: a name for the bank, and your questions. You can start with one question and add more any time.
• Time: about a minute for each question you type. To add many at once, see Add many questions at once.

Open your question banks

1. In your dashboard sidebar, click Exams and Assignments.
2. Click Question banks.

The question bank list

1. Overview. Counts for the whole academy: how many banks you have, how many are used in a lesson or not used yet, how many questions they hold, how many submissions they have had, and how many banks were made in the last 30 days. The charts on the right show your busiest banks, growth over time, and banks by number of questions.
2. Courses. Choose one or more courses to see only the banks used in their lessons. All courses shows every bank.
3. Search. Finds banks by name.
4. Show / hide overview. Folds the overview away to make room for the list.
5. Filter. Narrows and sorts the list (below).
6. New question bank. Starts a new bank.
7. A bank. Click a row to open it and work on its questions. Each row shows the number of questions, total marks, how many lessons use it, its submissions and the date it was created. A bank with no questions yet shows a No questions badge. Click a column title to sort by it.

Filter and sort

Filter	Choices
Lesson usage	Any, Used in a lesson, Not used yet. Locked to Any while you have chosen courses, because those banks are all in use already.
Questions	Any, Has questions, No questions yet.
Submissions	Any, Has submissions, No submissions.
Created	Any time, last 7, 30 or 90 days, this month, last month, this year.
Sort by	Last updated (the default), Date created, Name, Questions, Marks, Lesson usage or Submissions. The arrow button beside it flips the order.

A number on the Filter button shows how many filters are on. Reset clears them all.

Create a bank

1. Click New question bank.
2. Type a Name, for example HSC Physics 2nd Paper — Chapter 1 Model Test.
3. Click Create.

1. Name Required. Up to 255 characters. Pick a name that says what the bank is: students can see it when you use the bank in a lesson, unless you give that lesson item a title of its own.
2. Create. This becomes active once you type a name. The new bank opens straight away, ready for questions.

Inside a bank

1. Back. Returns to the list of banks.
2. The bank’s name. To change it, use Rename from the list (see Rename, duplicate or delete a bank).
3. Questions and marks. How many questions the bank has, and the total marks of its graded questions.
4. Preview. Shows the whole bank the way a student sees it. It’s available once the bank has a question.
5. Add question. Opens the menu for adding questions. The same button also appears under the list.
6. Generate with AI. Writes questions for you (see Add many questions at once).

Add a question

Click Add question and choose what to add.

1. Write a question. Pick a type: Multiple choice, True / False, Written answer or File upload. A window opens where you write it.
2. Add several at once. Generate with AI, Clone questions from another bank, or Import from file (Excel or CSV).

Every question is saved with its own Add question button at the bottom of the window. A question is always saved complete: the button stays grey until the question is ready, and a short note beside it says what is still missing, for example that the question text is empty.

Type	Students answer by…	Marked by
Multiple choice	picking one option, or several	LessonQ, when you tick the correct answer. You, when you don’t.
True / False	picking True or False	LessonQ, when you pick the correct answer. You, when you don’t.
Written answer	typing an answer	You
File upload	uploading one or more files	You

Multiple choice

1. Question Required. The question text.
2. Add file. Attach up to 10 files that students see with the question, such as a diagram or a graph. Pictures, documents (PDF, Word, text), presentations, spreadsheets and archives are allowed. The files upload when you save the question.
3. Multiple correct. Off: students pick one option. On: students pick every option that applies.
4. Correct answer. Click the circle to tick the correct option. This is optional. With a correct answer ticked, LessonQ marks the question for you; with none, you mark it yourself. Click the tick again to remove it.
5. Remove option. Deletes that option. A question always keeps at least two.
6. Add option. Adds another option.
7. Student preview. The question as students will see it, updated while you type. Options are labelled A, B, C… (ক, খ, গ… on the Bangla site).

A new multiple choice question starts with four empty options. You need at least two filled in; options you leave empty are dropped when you save.

When more than one answer is correct

Switch on Multiple correct, then tick every correct option. The circles become squares, and students see Select all that apply.

All or nothing

LessonQ gives the marks only when a student picks exactly the correct set: every correct option, and nothing else. Picking only some of them earns 0 for that question.

Switching Multiple correct off again keeps only the first ticked option.

Explanation and settings

Every type of question has these at the bottom of the window.

1. Explanation Optional. Why the answer is right. Students see it with their results, if the exam or assignment is set to show explanations.
2. Add file (explanation). Files that go with the explanation, such as a worked solution. Students see them only when they see the explanation.
3. Required. On by default. Students can’t finish the exam until they answer this question. A required question shows a Required badge in the list.
4. Graded. On by default, worth 1 mark. Set any number of marks, in steps of 0.5. Turn Graded off for a question that shouldn’t count toward the score, like a survey question; it then has no marks.
5. Tags Optional. Labels such as Chapter 1 or Hard. Up to 10 per question, each up to 40 characters. Tags you’ve used in the bank are suggested. When you later use the bank in a lesson, you can give each student a random set of questions, for example 5 from each tag.

Check what students see

The Student preview has two tabs. Answering shows the question while a student is taking the exam. Results shows what they see afterwards.

1. Answering / Results. Switch between the two views.
2. Correct answer. Marked on the results.
3. Explanation. Shown under the question.

Students see the correct answer and the explanation only when the exam or assignment’s result settings allow it.

True / False

1. Question Required. Write a statement that students mark as true or false.
2. Correct answer Optional. Pick True or False. LessonQ then marks it for you. If you pick neither, you mark it yourself. Click your choice again to clear it.

Written answer

Students type their answer: a word, a sentence or a long paragraph. You mark it yourself.

1. Word limit (optional). The most words a student can write. Leave it empty for no limit.
2. Model answer Optional. A sample answer to mark against. Students see it only when the results show correct answers.

File upload

Students answer by uploading files, for example a scanned page of their working. You mark it yourself.

1. Total size (MB). The most all of a student’s files can add up to, from 1 to 100 MB. It starts at 10 MB.
2. Max files. How many files a student can upload. It starts at 1; 0 means no limit.
3. Allowed file types. It starts with PDF only. Open the list to allow more.

Tick a whole group, or open a group and tick single types:

Group	Types
Photos	JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, WEBP, SVG, BMP, AVIF
Documents	PDF, DOCX, TXT, MD
Presentations	PPTX
Spreadsheets	XLSX, CSV, TSV
Archives	ZIP, RAR, 7Z

With nothing ticked, students can upload any file type.

Change, reorder or remove questions

1. Handle. Drag a question up or down by its dotted handle to change the order. A tick shows for a moment when the new order is saved.
2. Number. The question’s place in the bank. Students get the questions in this order, unless the exam is set to shuffle them.
3. Required. Shown on required questions.
4. Type. The kind of question.
5. Marks. A dash means the question isn’t graded.
6. Menu. More actions for the question (below).

To change a question, click it. The same window opens with its contents; change what you need and click Save changes. The button stays grey until you change something.

• Edit opens the question, just like clicking it.
• Move up and Move down move it one place, if you’d rather not drag.
• Duplicate question adds a copy at the end of the bank. Its attached files are not copied.
• Delete removes the question after you confirm.

Caution

Deleting a question can’t be undone, and its attached files are deleted with it.

Preview the whole bank

Click the eye button at the top to go through the bank as a student would. Nothing you answer here is saved.

Add many questions at once

These are under Add several at once in the Add question menu:

• Generate with AI drafts questions from a short description (and your own notes, if you attach them).
• Clone questions copies questions from another of your banks.
• Import from file adds up to 500 questions from an Excel or CSV file.

All three are explained step by step, with a video, in Add questions faster.

Rename, duplicate or delete a bank

On the list of banks, click a bank’s ⋮ menu.

• Rename changes the bank’s name.
• Add to a lesson as exam and Add to a lesson as assignment put the bank into a lesson. That’s the next guide.
• Where it’s used lists the lessons that use the bank. It’s greyed out while the bank isn’t in any lesson.
• Duplicate makes a new bank called Copy of … with a copy of every question. The lessons it’s used in, student attempts and attached files are not copied.
• Delete removes the bank (below).

Deleting a bank

A bank that isn’t used anywhere and has no submissions is deleted after one click on Delete.

If the bank is used in a lesson, or students have already submitted answers, LessonQ asks you to type the bank’s name to confirm:

This can't be undone

Deleting a bank also removes it from every lesson it’s in, together with all student attempts and results on it. If you only want to stop using it somewhere, remove it from that lesson instead.

What’s next

Put the bank into a lesson as an exam or an assignment: Add an exam or assignment to a course.

What if…

The Add question button stays grey. Something is still missing. Read the short note beside the button: the question text may be empty, or a multiple choice question has fewer than two options filled in. When you’re changing a saved question, the button stays grey until you change something.

I closed the window without saving. Pressing Esc, clicking Cancel or the ✕ closes the window without saving. Open the question again and redo the change.

A question I dragged went back to where it was. The new order couldn’t be saved, so you’ll see Failed to reorder and the list returns to its saved order. Check your connection and drag it again, or use Move up / Move down from the question’s ⋮ menu.

I changed a question after students took the exam. Each student’s paper is fixed when they start. Your change applies to papers started after you save it; papers already started keep the question as it was. Files are the exception: files attached to a question or its explanation are never fixed into a paper, so removing or replacing one changes it for everyone at once, papers already started and results included.

I want the same questions in two courses. You don’t need two banks. Add the same bank to a lesson in each course.

I want a slightly different version of a bank. Use Duplicate on the list, then change the copy. Your original bank and its results stay as they are.

A student got 0 on a multiple choice question with several correct answers. Marks are all or nothing: the student has to pick every correct option and no wrong one.