Examinations are essential for evaluating knowledge efficiently. With that being said, online tests offer better flexibility, faster grading & instant feedback, cost-effectiveness and scalability.
If you’re looking to create an online exam for your online courses, employee training or certification programs, you’ve landed at the right place.
Building a well-structured online exam requires careful planning. In this blog, we’ll help you learn how to create an online exam. Along with key features that make it successful & the best platforms to use.
Features of a Successful Online Exam
- Secure Login & Authentication: To ensure only authorised candidates access the exam
- Randomized Questions: Shuffling questions & answer options offer an effective cheating prevention method
- Multiple Question Types: Support for MCQs, short answers, essays, etc for an engaging assessment experience
- Real-Time Proctoring: Enables live supervision to maintain exam integrity
- Mobile Compatibility: Helps learners attempt exams easily on smartphones & tablets
- Instant Grading & Results: Provides learners with instant feedback while reducing manual workload
- Encryption & Privacy: Protects candidate & exam data while meeting regulatory standards
- Test Resume Functionality: Prevents disruptions in case of internet connectivity issues
- Detailed Insights: Offers reports into learner performance & exam effectiveness
You might also like to read about how to create an online course.
How to Create an Online Exam Step-by-Step?
Step 1: Define Your Exam’s Objectives
Clearly outlining the purpose of your online test helps align it with relevant learning outcomes. Thereby, making it meaningful for both you & the learners. With this in place, you can easily decide the exam format, difficulty level & types of questions to include.
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Step 2: Structure the Exam Questions
Once the objectives are set, carefully plan the exam content. If needed, break it down into sections or modules. Decide the question types to be included, based on the skills you want to evaluate. MCQs, MSQs, short or descriptive answers, fill-in-the-blanks, or coding exercises.
A balanced exam structure with easy, moderate & challenging questions ensures a fair assessment. Using such a question bank/content formats helps maintain consistency & coverage across all important topics.
Step 3: Choose the Right Platform
Selecting the right platform improves the experience for both educators & learners. Check for the features mentioned in the above section. Always opt for a scalable, customisable solution backed by strong technical support.
There are plenty of online exam maker tools but for getting detailed insights, you need to ensure its integration with your LMS or CRM system. You can even take a free demo or trial before finalising the platform.
Step 4: Create & Upload Questions
After choosing the platform, start building your question paper. Most platforms allow easy uploading of questions either manually or through bulk import. You can also categorise questions by difficulty level, topic, or skill type for better management.
Ensuring that each question is clear, unbiased & aligned with your objectives, and using multimedia makes questions more engaging & comprehensive.
Step 5: Set Rules & Security Measures
Define the start/end time, time limit per section, number of attempts allowed & whether backtracking between questions is permitted. You can even set up automated proctoring, question randomisation & browser lockdown if your platform supports them. Lastly, inform all candidates about these rules before starting the exam to avoid any confusion.
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Step 6: Pilot Test
Before launching it to a wider audience, conduct a pilot test with a small group of internal users or sample learners. This helps you identify any technical glitches, confusing questions, or loopholes in the exam flow.
Collect feedback after the pilot test and fine-tune the exam if needed. It’s always better to fix minor issues early rather than after the exam is live.
Step 7: Launch & Monitor Progress
Once everything is set, officially launch your online exam. Send out clear communication to candidates with details like exam timing, login instructions, system requirements & helpline support.
While the exam is live, monitor progress & resolve any real-time issues quickly. Ensure that exam logs are maintained properly so that analysis & reporting can be done later.
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Best Platforms to Create an Online Exam
| Platform | Type | Best For | Proctoring Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coursera for Campus | MOOCs | Universities, Corporate L&D | Can be done via integration |
| edX for Business/Campus | MOOCs | Universities, Enterprises | Can be done via integration |
| Thinkific | Online Course Platforms | Course Creators, Coaches | Can be done via integration (e.g., Brillium) |
| Teachable | Online Course Platforms | Course Creators, Entrepreneurs | Limited native; external tools required |
| Edmingle | Learning Management Systems | Training Providers & Businesses, Educational Institutions, Enterprises | Flawless Integration with Mettl |
| TalentLMS | Learning Management Systems | SMBs, Training Providers | Can be done via integration |
Benefits of Creating Online Exams on Edmingle
- Seamless Exam Creation: Easily build structured exams with multiple question formats, timed online assessments & customisable grading, all within a user-friendly interface.
- Automated Evaluation & Results: Instantly evaluate learner performance with an automated grading feature for objective-type questions, saving educators hours of manual effort.
- Secure Exam Environment: Protect exam integrity through features like restricted access, randomised questions, and seamless Mettl integration.
- Mobile and Web Accessibility: Allow learners to attempt exams from any device—desktop, tablet, or smartphone, without compromising experience.
- Coding Compiler & Programming Assessments: With Edmingle, you can seamlessly host programming assessments without any glitch or compilation errors.
- Detailed Performance Analytics: Gain deep insights into exam-takers’ performance with in-depth test analytics report, helping you make data-driven improvements.
- Seamless Integration with Courses & Certifications: Link exams directly to specific courses & custom certificates, ensuring a smooth & organised learning journey.
- Scalability & Customisation: Edmingle’s cloud infrastructure supports seamless scaling, as your learner base grows, without performance issues. Maintain your institution’s identity by customising the platform with your brand’s logo, colors & guidelines.
Bonus: Enrol more learners than ever before with our guide to writing winning course descriptions.
Summary
In short, creating an online exam isn’t just about setting questions. It’s about designing a seamless, secure & scalable evaluation experience.
By following the right steps & selecting the best platform, you can deliver high-quality online exams in order to drive real learning outcomes.
As a robust platform, Edmingle stands out for its ease of exam creation, automated evaluations, seamless mobile accessibility, powerful analytics & scalability.
By combining strategic planning with the right tech, you can create online exams that enhance both learner engagement & satisfaction.
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