Give students access
Exams are on the Pro plan.
The link
Once the exam is enabled, the top of the exam setup page has Copy link, which puts the student link on your clipboard, and Open exam, which opens it in a new tab so you can see what students see. Send it however you reach your class: the LMS, email, a message group, or on the board.
The link is the same for everyone. It is a door, not a personal key — what makes an attempt personal is the identification behind it.
What a student needs to get in
Every check must pass:
| Check | Always? |
|---|---|
| The exam is enabled and published | Yes |
| It is inside the exam window | Yes |
| Their university ID is in the group | Yes |
| They have attempts remaining | Yes |
| The access code, if you set one | Only if configured |
| Attendance at the linked session, if required | Only if configured |
Until access is enabled the link simply does not work, so distributing it early is safe.
The access code
An optional code students type at the door.
It is worth setting when you want presence to matter — you read the code out at the start, so someone who is not in the room cannot begin, even holding the link. It is not worth setting for a take-home practice test, where it only adds a step.
Bear in mind a code travels as easily as a link once spoken. It raises the cost of remote sitting; it does not prevent it.
Requiring session attendance
An exam can require that the student attended its linked session.
This is the strongest gate available, because it leans on the check-in that already happened in the room. It only works if the assessment is tied to a session and attendance for it is accurate — fix any attendance records before the exam, or a student who was present but failed to scan is locked out of the paper.
Keeping the link from spreading
You cannot stop a link being forwarded. What you can do is make the link insufficient on its own:
- A short window means a forwarded link is dead within the hour.
- An access code read aloud means holding the link is not enough.
- Requiring attendance means only students who checked in can sit it.
- Device controls catch one device being used for several students. See Exam integrity.