Setting up an exam and its datesheet

An exam is one assessment event, such as a midterm or a final. You set it up in two places: the Examination menu holds the exam itself (who sits it and what they are marked out of), and the Date Sheet menu holds the schedule of papers that students and parents see.

Before you start

• Your classes, sections and subjects must already exist.
• Your examination settings should be in place, especially grading scales and exam types. These are set once under Examination > Settings.
• You need permission for the Examination and Date Sheet menus. If you do not see an option, it may not be included in your plan or your role may not have permission; ask your administrator.

Examination or Coursework?

You may also see a Coursework menu. Coursework is for continuous in-year assessment such as class tests and assessments. Formal exams that end in a result card are set up under Examination, which is what this article covers.

Steps

Create the exam

1. Go to Examination > Exams and choose to create an exam.
2. In the Create Exam window, enter the Exam name (for example, Midterm 2026) and pick the Exam type.
3. Choose the Grading scale, or leave it on Default.
4. Set Result display to how results should appear: Marks, Percent, Grade, GPA or Mixed.
5. Set Counts in Final and Unmarked work. Unmarked work decides whether a missing mark Counts as zero or is Left out until marked.
6. Add the Start Date, End Date, Result Date and, if you combine exams, a Weight %. Then click Create.

Set up who sits it and what they take

1. In the exams list, click Setup next to your exam.
2. On the Classes tab, add every class that sits the exam. You can pick one section or leave All sections.
3. On the Papers tab, add one paper per subject with its Max Marks and pass marks. Generate Papers can create papers for many subjects at once.
4. Optionally, on the Components tab, split a paper into parts, such as theory and practical. The parts should add up to the paper total.
5. Check the Setup Progress panel. It flags classes with no papers and papers whose components do not add up.

Build the datesheet

1. Go to Date Sheet > Create.
2. Pick the class (leave it blank for all classes), enter a Datesheet Title and the Exam Start Date.
3. Set the Default Start Time, Default End Time and Interval (Daily, Every 2nd Day or Every 3rd Day). Choose whether Saturday Off and Sunday Off apply, and add an Exam Center if needed.
4. Review the list of subjects. You can adjust each paper's Exam Date, Start Time, End Time, Room Number and Syllabus. If you removed a subject by mistake, use Reload Deleted Subjects.
5. Click Create Datesheet. It is saved as a draft.
6. Go to Date Sheet > View Date Sheet, find your datesheet and publish it. You can optionally notify students and parents when you publish.

Good to know

• An exam stays in Draft until results are published, so you can safely correct its setup beforehand. Once results are approved or published, papers and components can no longer be changed.
• A published datesheet is live: students and parents have already seen it. If you change it, use the notify option so they hear about the update.
• To reuse last term's datesheet, use the clone option in View Date Sheet and give it a new start date.
• General instructions printed with every datesheet are set under Date Sheet > Settings.
• Notification by SMS or WhatsApp depends on your region and messaging provider.

Common questions

Is the datesheet linked to the exam?
They are set up separately. Use the same name for both so staff and families can match them easily.

Can I print roll number slips?
Yes. Go to Date Sheet > Reports. Admit cards for the exam are under Examination > Exam Office > Admit Cards.

For an overview, see Examinations.