Exam troubleshooting
Exams are on the Pro plan.
A student cannot open the exam
Work down the access checks in order — one of them is failing.
| Check | Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Published | Nobody at all can get in | Publish it |
| Exam window | Nobody can get in, and the clock explains why | Check Start at and End at, and that they are the times you meant |
| University ID | One student refused | Their ID is not in the group, or is stored differently. Check the student |
| Access code | One student refused after entering it | They mistyped, or have the wrong code |
| Attempts used | A returning student refused | They have used their attempts |
| Session attendance | Scattered students refused | Their attendance for the linked session is missing |
That last one is worth watching for. If you required session attendance and a student was present but their check-in failed, they are locked out of the exam by an attendance record that was wrong before the exam started. Fix the attendance and they can enter.
During an exam, do not debug in front of the room. Get the affected student started — correct their ID, give them the code again — and investigate patterns afterwards. Time spent diagnosing is time off everyone else's clock.
A student's device died mid-attempt
Answers save as they go, so the work up to that point is not lost. They can return and continue.
The timer does not pause for this. A student who lost fifteen minutes to a dead battery has lost fifteen minutes of exam. If that is unfair in the circumstances, the remedy is a grade adjustment afterwards, not an attempt to recover the clock.
"I ran out of time — the timer was wrong"
The attempt's deadline is fixed when it starts, not when the window opens.
Two consequences that answer most disputes:
- Opening the page early and starting late does not cost time. The timer begins at Start exam.
- Closing the tab does not stop the clock. A student who left and came back found less time, correctly.
The attempt log shows when the attempt started and when it was submitted or timed out. That usually settles it.
"It says I already have an attempt open"
Duplicate session detection — the attempt was opened somewhere else. Common innocent cause: a phone that reloaded, or a student moving to a laptop after a battery failure.
Ask what happened. See Exam integrity for how much weight the signal carries, which is less than it first appears.
A question was wrong
Question editing is locked once attempts exist, and that is deliberate — a question cannot change under someone mid-answer.
So fix it in the grades, not the paper:
- Work out who was affected — usually everyone.
- Adjust scores through the assessment.
- Tell the class what you did.
If the paper is badly enough broken, void it and re-run rather than patching a dozen grades by hand.
Half the class could not get in
Stop and look for the common cause rather than helping students one at a time.
| Everyone affected by | Suspect |
|---|---|
| Cannot see the exam | Not published |
| Refused at the door | Window not open, or wrong access code circulating |
| ID not recognised | Wrong group, or IDs imported into the wrong field |
| Attendance gate | The linked session's attendance is incomplete |