Free multiple-choice test analysis software

Enter the answer key and the candidates’ responses to analyze multiple-choice items online: difficulty, discrimination, rpbis and Cronbach alpha reliability (CTT), plus item parameters and candidate ability (IRT). Export Word, PDF and Excel reports right on the page, free and with no account.

No account needed CTT & IRT 1PL · 2PL · 3PL 5–200 questions 10–5,000 candidates Results kept for 2 hours
1Analysis settings
Please enter a name
characters
Number of initial characters to skip before reading answers. Enter 10 for a 10-character candidate identifier, or 0 if there is no identifier.
2Estimate model
3Test key *
Enter one correct answer per question (A, B, C, D… or 1, 2, 3, 4…). The initial characters are skipped according to the selected starting position. Questions detected: 0
4Candidate responses *
Use one line per candidate and one character per question, with the same starting position as the answer key. Candidates: 0
Analysis results depend on data quality and sample size.
Preparing the data Download sample data

You need two things: the answer key and the candidates’ responses. Paste them into the boxes or choose files. Both are plain text files; the .key and .dat extensions are just conventions, and .txt works too.

A single line:
key       4434334331334423432334224433334443233443
  • The first 10 characters are a margin: write key and pad with spaces, or leave 10 spaces. This part is skipped according to First item position.
  • Then the answers, one character per question: letters A–I or digits 1–9. Do not mix letters and digits in one test.
  • The number of answer characters is the number of questions (5–200).
  • To add a note, put it after a space, for example … ! version B; anything after the space is ignored.

One line per candidate:
10301031014434334331334423432334224433321443233443
10301031024434334331334423432334224433134443233443
  • The first 10 characters are the candidate ID, with the same length on every line.
  • Then each choice, in the same order and the same count as the key line.
  • Leave a skipped question as a space or any character outside the options; it counts as blank.
  • You need 10 to 5,000 candidates; the more candidates, the more reliable the item parameters.

With Notepad
  • Open Notepad and paste the content in the format above.
  • Ctrl+S → set Save as type to All Files → name it answers.key (or responses.dat).
  • Both UTF-8 and ANSI encodings work.
From Excel
  • Column A: candidate ID. The next columns: one answer per cell.
  • Add a joined column, for example =A2&TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,B2:AY2), and fill it down the list.
  • Copy the joined column, paste it into Notepad and save as responses.dat.
General notes
  • The margin length of both files must equal First item position (default 10). If there is no candidate ID, enter 0.
  • Do not put commas, semicolons or tabs between answers.
  • No data yet? Click Download sample data above to see three real sample sets.
Your data stays in this browser session, is deleted after 2 hours and is never saved to an account. Export a report to keep the results.

What does this test analysis tool do?

It runs two measurement theories on the same multiple-choice data, so teachers and assessment teams can see which items are too easy or too hard, which fail to discriminate, and whether the test is reliable enough.

CTT: classical test theory

  • Difficulty P and discrimination D of each item.
  • Item–total correlation rpbis.
  • Cronbach alpha reliability of the whole test.
  • Choice distribution and distractor quality.

IRT: item response theory

  • Three models: 1PL (Rasch), 2PL and 3PL.
  • Difficulty b, discrimination a and guessing c parameters.
  • Test and item information functions.
  • Candidate ability θ and the true-score function.

Want to understand each statistic before you start? Read Evaluating question bank quality with CTT and IRT.

Frequently asked questions

Is this test analysis tool free?

Yes, free and with no account. Each analysis accepts 5 to 200 questions and 10 to 5,000 candidates.

What data do I need?

Two things: the answer key and the candidates’ responses. Paste them in or choose .key, .dat or .txt text files, following the guide on this page.

Can I export the analysis report?

Yes. The full CTT and IRT reports export to Word or PDF or print directly; item and candidate tables export to Word and Excel.

Is my test data stored?

Results stay only in your browser session, are deleted after 2 hours and are never linked to an account. Export a report to keep them.