How to prepare for an online exam

On this page you will find information about the different types of online exams and assessments you might encounter, and learn many useful tips to ensure that you do well no matter the format.

Benefits of online assessment

Are you working towards online assessments? Taking your exams or other kinds of assessment online poses a number of challenges, but it also has some important advantages. Rather than worrying about how to get to the exam venue and having all the right things with you, you can simply find a comfortable space that works well for you, settle down and get the most out of yourself.

The emphasis also shifts away from retention of basic facts and information to a test of how you access and apply your learning, often with fewer intense time constraints. Foregrounding these practical skills can help take away some of the pressure of in-person invigilated exams and allow you to demonstrate your grasp of the subject area.

Consider attending the Preparing for an Online Exam workshop. This workshop explores the specific challenges and opportunities posed by online examinations and identifies strategies that you can use to make the most of the format.

Synchronous vs asynchronous exams

Your online exams may either be

synchronous: exams that are run live, with all students joining simultaneously
asynchronous: exams that give you a set window of hours or days in which to complete them

Synchronous exams

Synchronous exams have more in common with traditional invigilated exams. The time pressure involved will mean that it may not be realistic to use books and resources to research your answers mid-exam.

You should prepare for synchronous exams in much the same way as you would prepare for invigilated exams. This means you should place emphasis on learning the key information that you will need to draw on and apply in the exam.

Think in advance about how you will approach the exam. For example, ask yourself the questions below:

How long will you allocate to look over the paper before starting to answer questions?
How long will you need to check your answers at the end?

If additional resources are allowed, organising your reference materials is key, as you will need to access the appropriate information quickly and efficiently. Consider using flashcards, post-it notes, sticky tabs and colour-coding to manage your resources.

Asynchronous exams

Asynchronous exams are likely to involve less time pressure. They test understanding and analytical skills, rather than retention of facts and information.

With time to process the questions, plan and structure your answers, you will be expected to put forward more involved responses. These should draw on multiple theories, examples, case studies and so on.

Your preparation should focus on developing a good overall understanding of broad topic areas and how ideas interconnect within and across these areas. Using tools like mind maps and identifying relevant examples and case studies in advance will help you to produce structured and organised answers during the exam period.

Open-book exams

Types of thinking tested

An open-book exam allows you to make use of supporting materials, such as lecture notes, books and other resources.

As you can access these additional resources during the exam, these forms of assessment test how you demonstrate higher-order thinking. This means applying, analysing, evaluating and creating, rather than testing your ability to recall or remember specific information.

Bloom’s Taxonomy structures the different types of thinking in a pyramid. The categories are as follows, from higher level to lower level thinking skills:

Creating: Developing your own interpretation.
Evaluating: Making judgements based on evidence.
Analysing: Relating to other examples and evidence.
Applying: Using knowledge in practical ways.
Understanding: Making sense of knowledge.
Remembering: Recalling facts and information.

Preparing for open-book exams

There are a number of things to consider when preparing for open books exams. To prepare, you should take the below steps.

Revise in advance

Approach your revision as you would for any other exam or assessment. Don't wait until the assessment starts before looking through your lecture notes and other revision material.

Treat your notes and textbooks as a backup that you may need to refer to for accuracy, and revise the material beforehand, as you would normally. This way, you can spend most of the exam time carefully reading each question and then planning and writing your answers, as you would in a closed-book exam

Organise your materials

Focus on organising your notes and other resources so that you can access them quickly during the exam period. Group them around specific themes and possible questions.

These exams often take place in a time-limited format, so you want to minimise the time you take searching for information.

Using past papers

The best way to improve your time management for an open-book exam is to practise using past papers or questions you set yourself:

Gather all the notes and resources relating to your exam, and find a place where you can work without interruption.
Set a timer for the same length as your final exam will be – you don't have to stick to this strictly, but it can help to get a feel for how long you will have.
After you finish your practice, read through your answers and crosscheck them with your notes.
Make a list of topics that you spent a lot of time looking in your notes for – these are ones you may wish to revise more. Bookmark them clearly so that you can find them quickly next time

Open-book exam formats

Open-book exams can be in a range of different formats. Examples include:

Essay-based exams

If your exam is made up of essay questions, spend a few minutes planning each one before you start to write. Read more guidance on structuring essays, to help you make sure you include enough critical analysis.

Multiple-choice or short-answer exams

There are a few different strategies you can use to approach these types of exam. Get advice on multiple-choice question exams.

Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity in the context of online assessment is exactly the same as academic integrity in other forms of assessment. It refers to any form of cheating or attempts to gain an unfair advantage in your assessment.

See the guidance on academic integrity

Top tips

Avoid disturbances

Find a suitable exam environment in which to work. Eliminate distractions from children, pets, visitors or the TV.
Place a "do not disturb" or "testing in progress" sign on the door of the room where you are taking the test.
Inform family members who might also be home that you will be taking an exam for a specific time to minimise interruptions.
Turn off phones. If you have a landline, set the ringer to silent or low.

Prepare your tech

Test the hardware to make sure that batteries are charged, there are no technical faults etc.
Have your login details and password to hand.
At least 15 minutes before the exam, set up your environment to make sure you do not have any computer or internet access issues.

Minimise risk of issues

Reduce the chances of having to stop mid-way, eg make sure you eat and visit the toilet in advance.
Have the test instructions to hand, in the event something goes wrong.

Next steps

Further Resources

SSiD: Exam information pages
SSiD: Exam Worries

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