Multiple-choice and essay exams · Free

Online exam builder: from question bank to report card and certificate

With Porsino's online exam builder you write questions once in the question bank, compose a separate paper for each participant, let the server keep time, and after grading deliver PDF report cards and certificates. Building and publishing are free, and the free account gets 50 responses a month; more responses unlock with any monthly, quarterly or yearly plan, and no response is ever lost.

  • Free up to 50 responses a month
  • 10 question types
  • Server-side timer
  • PDF report cards and certificates
Glass four-option answer sheet with a timer ring, a webcam icon, a graduation cap and a stamped certificate

Question bank with import from Excel and Word

Each question is written once in the bank and reused in any exam you like. The bank has tree categories — course, chapter, section — and for each question you record a difficulty level (easy, medium, hard), tags, default points, negative marking and an answer explanation.

Ten question types are supported: single choice, multiple choice with several correct answers, true or false, fill in the blank, matching, ordering, numeric answer, short answer, essay and file upload.

If your questions live in an Excel or Word file, there's no need to retype them; import the xlsx or docx and the questions land in the category you choose, with any problem rows reported separately. Write math formulas inside the question text with $ signs; they render correctly both on the exam page and in the PDF report card.

Manual or rule-based selection

In manual mode you pick the questions yourself, set the points for each and reorder them by dragging. In rule-based mode you only say where from and how many; for example “5 easy questions from chapter 2 and 3 hard ones from chapter 4.” The system draws separately and at random for each participant, so two people sitting side by side don't get the same paper.

  • You can shuffle the order of questions and options for each person.
  • A time limit for the whole exam or a separate one per question, plus a start and end window.
  • Number of attempts allowed, scored by best, latest or average attempt.
  • Negative marking, pass mark and score scale; out of 20 or out of 100, for example.
  • Open entry, by password, by invitation, by details such as name and national ID or personnel code, or paid entry.

Server-side timer and anti-cheat in the online exam builder

The server keeps exam time, not the browser. If a participant moves their device clock forward or back or reopens the page, their remaining time doesn't change, and when the time is up the attempt is closed. Correct answers are never sent to the browser before the attempt ends, so there's nothing to find with the browser's developer tools either.

  • Logging every exit from the exam page with three policies: warn only, deduct points, or end the exam automatically after a set number of repeats.
  • Require full-screen mode and log every exit from it.
  • Blocking copy and the right-click menu and, if needed, text selection.
  • Restricting the exam to one concurrent session, one device or one IP.
  • A risk score for every attempt (for example, correct answers given implausibly fast) and a “suspicious behavior and violations” report.

Online anti-cheat makes life hard for cheaters and records their tracks, but it doesn't fully replace in-person supervision. For high-stakes exams, a large question bank combined with random selection has the greatest effect.

Automatic and manual grading, plus appeals

Closed questions — multiple choice, true or false, fill in the blank and numeric — are graded the moment they're submitted. For essay questions there's a horizontal grading page: you see one question for every participant in a row and give a score and feedback; it's faster, and your standard stays the same for everyone.

If you enable appeals, a participant can contest the score of a question after seeing their result. Appeals collect in a separate queue, and when one is accepted the score is recalculated. You can also drop a question that turns out to be faulty from scoring, and everyone's score is recalculated automatically.

You decide when results are published: immediately, after the exam closes, or manually. How much detail participants see is adjustable too, from the score alone to the full report card with correct answers.

Report cards, certificates and leaderboard

Everyone's report card is shown on screen and downloadable as a PDF: percentage and final score stamped pass or fail, the number of correct, incorrect and unanswered questions, negative marking, time spent, rank and percentile in the group, a score table per topic and a question-by-question answer sheet.

If you enable certificates, a PDF certificate is issued for everyone who passes once results are published, with a code and QR anyone can use to verify it online. You have 22 designs: 7 basic ones (Classic, Modern, Royal, Academic, Corporate, Certificate of merit and Persian) and 15 special designs, from illumination and girih to security guilloche, sport and medical. Read the details on the online certificates page.

The leaderboard is optional and can be anonymous; after results are published, participants see their own position next to the top scorers. You get analytical reports too: score distribution, pass rate, difficulty and discrimination indices per question, distractor analysis and exam reliability with Cronbach's alpha.

Frequently asked questions

Is Porsino's exam builder really free?

Yes. Building a question bank, running exams, grading, report cards and certificates all come with the free account. Building and publishing are free, and the free account gets 50 responses a month; more responses unlock with any monthly, quarterly or yearly plan, and no response is ever lost. All you need to start is an email.

Can a participant get more time by changing their device clock?

No. The server keeps exam time, and the participant's device clock has no effect on it. Closing and reopening the page doesn't bring elapsed time back either.

Does each person see different questions?

Yes, if you choose rule-based selection. Questions are drawn separately and at random for each participant from the categories and difficulty levels you set. You can also shuffle the order of questions and options.

How are essay questions graded?

On the horizontal grading page you see one question for every participant in a row and give a score and feedback. Until grading is finished, the report card shows an “awaiting grading” status.

Can I import my questions from Word or Excel?

Yes. Import the docx or xlsx file into the question bank; the questions land in the category you choose, and any problem rows are reported separately.

Do participants have to register on the site?

No. You can make the exam public, restrict it with a password or invitations, or just ask for details such as name and national ID. Only the exam creator needs an account.

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Build your first exam today

Write a few questions or import them from Excel, set the time limit and pass mark, and send the exam link to participants.