How to conduct an online exam that's fair

Before: the paper

• Write to the syllabus. Map every question to a topic, and check coverage.
• Balance difficulty. A mix such as 40% easy, 40% medium and 20% hard separates candidates without discouraging them.
• Build a question bank. If everyone gets a different balanced set, sharing answers stops working.
• Decide the marking. Marks per question, and whether wrong answers lose marks (a quarter is common).

Before: the rules

• Set an open and close time and a timer; decide whether people who started can finish after the window closes.
• Choose navigation: one way through, or free with a question palette.
• Switch on integrity settings that match the stakes: tab-switch warnings and a watermark for class tests, AI proctoring for formal exams.
• Send candidates a practice link so the first time they see the system isn't the real exam.

During

Be reachable. Candidates will have connection problems and questions. Good systems save every answer as it's given and let candidates resume on the same device with the remaining time. Proctoring flags should never end an exam on their own; they're for a person to review afterwards.

After

• Mark written answers in a queue, question by question, for consistency.
• Review flags with the evidence before drawing conclusions.
• Release results only when marking is complete, and let each candidate see only their own.
• Look at item analysis: a question almost everyone got wrong may be a bad question.

If you want a tool for it, QG Playground covers this workflow with online assessments: scheduled papers, question banks and results by private link, with AI proctoring on Enterprise.