How to prepare and mix multiple-choice tests

1Questions and options

The software recognises questions and options by the words they start with. Get the start right and lay out the rest however you like.

Questions

• Start with Question, a space, the number, then a colon : or a full stop . — for example Question 1:, Question 12.
• The question word can be in any of these languages: Câu 1: / Câu hỏi 1: (Vietnamese), Pregunta 1: (Spanish), Question 1 : (French), Frage 1: / Aufgabe 1: (German), Questão 1: / Pergunta 1: (Portuguese), Soal 1: / Pertanyaan 1: (Indonesian). The full list is in section 10.
• Capital letters, missing accents (Questao 1:), a space before the colon (Question 1 :), the full-width colon ： and a number sign (Question No. 5:, Question nº 5:) are accepted.
• You can put the score right after the number: Question 3 (0.5 points):
• Use one question word for the whole test (all “Question”, or all “Pregunta”…), do not mix them. The other keywords (answer line, solution, part headings) may come from different languages in the same file.

Answer options

• Start with a capital letter and a full stop: A. B. C. D. (up to F.).
• One option per line, or several options on one line separated with the Tab key. Both work.

Is your test written with options like a) or a.? No need to fix it by hand: use the convert tool to bring it into the right format.

2Marking the correct answer

Pick one of these methods and use it throughout the test. Mark only the correct option and leave the others plain.

Note: if a question underlines words for emphasis (for example “the wrong word”), mark answers in red or with a highlight so the software is not confused.

3Keeping an option in place

Mixing shuffles the order of A B C D. To keep an option where it is, put a # right before its letter.

The software keeps these options in place by itself (no # needed) when they read like “All of the above”, “None of the above” or “Both A and B are correct”, or the same in another language: “Tất cả các phương án trên”, “Cả A và B đều đúng” (Vietnamese), “Todas las anteriores” (Spanish), “Toutes les réponses ci-dessus” (French), “Alle oben genannten” (German), “Todas as anteriores” (Portuguese), “Semua jawaban benar” (Indonesian). The full list is in section 10.

4Tests with several parts (2025 format)

When a test has several kinds of question, split it into parts. Each part starts with a heading line that begins with a tag naming the kind of question.

Fixed parts: keep the question order

To stop the questions of a part from being reordered when mixing, put a # right after the < of the tag: <#g>, <#g3>, <#g2>, <#g1>, <#g4>. The kind of question is the same as the tag without #. In every test version, question 1 of the part stays question 1, question 2 stays question 2…; the A, B, C, D options of each question are still shuffled (to keep options too, put # before the letter as in section 3). In the converted table, the Type column of the part heading row reads FGR instead of GR.

Note: fixed parts (FGR) need the latest version of ExamQR and ExamQR Exam. An older version that has not been updated reads the FGR part heading as an extra question. Open the software and update it before use.

Forgot the tag? The software can still tell the kind of question when the heading starts with a part word and a number (“PART II”, “SECTION 2”) and names the kind of question, for example “PART II. True/False questions”, “PART III. Short answer questions”, “PART IV. Essay questions”. The same headings work in the other languages: “PHẦN II. Câu đúng sai” (Vietnamese), “PARTE II. Preguntas de verdadero o falso” (Spanish), “PARTIE II : Questions vrai ou faux” (French), “TEIL II: Richtig/Falsch-Aufgaben” (German), “PARTE II. Questões de verdadeiro ou falso” (Portuguese), “BAGIAN II: Soal benar atau salah” (Indonesian). The words for each kind of part are listed in section 10. The tag is still the most reliable way.

A complete example is in the sample files (Mau_3_Phan_2025_BinhThuong.docx).

5Question groups sharing a passage

For reading or listening tasks, where several questions use the same passage. Put the opening tag at the start of the passage and the closing tag after the last question of the group.

Write the closing tag on its own line. Do not start the next question on the same line as the closing tag.

6Images, equations and solutions

• Images: right-click the image → Wrap Text → In Line with Text. An image that sits in the line of text moves with its question or option when they are shuffled, instead of jumping around.
• Equations: MathType and Word’s built-in Equation both work. Keep an equation in the same paragraph as the question or option it belongs to.
• Tables: questions containing tables can be mixed. Just do not put options A, B, C, D in separate table cells.
• Solutions: if the test has solutions, write them after the options and start with Solution: or Explanation: (or the same word in another language: Lời giải:, Solución:, Solution :, Lösung:, Resolução:, Pembahasan:… see section 10) so they are not taken as an option.
• Automatic numbering: if Word numbers “Question 1, Question 2…” (or “Pregunta 1”, “Frage 1”…) or “A. B. C.” automatically, the software still reads it. Typing them by hand is the safest.

7Mixing online

Nothing to install: it runs in your browser and is free.

1. Open the Mix test online page.
2. Click Mix test.
3. Fill in the header details printed on the test: Organization, School, Exam, Subject, Duration.
4. Choose the Test count (how many versions to create) and how version codes are set. Spacing and line settings can stay at their defaults.
5. Upload the original Word file. The software checks it; if a question breaks the conventions, it tells you so you can fix it and upload again.
6. Download the mixed versions with their answer keys.

Test not in the right format, or only a PDF?

Use the convert tool (the Convert tool button on the mixing page) to bring the test into the right format before mixing. PDF files (scans included) are converted with AI, charged per page, sign-in required. Word files use AI only when you tick Convert with AI.

Video guide: Mixing tests online with ExamQR

Keep your own layout when shuffling

Leave Keep my file's layout ticked (it is by default) and your Word file is the template of every version. Only the questions are shuffled.

• Kept as they are: the Word header and footer, everything before the first question, and the lines after the end marker.
• Test code: type {CODE} in your file where the code should appear (in the head, the header or footer, a table cell or a text box). Without it, the code is read from a label such as Test code: or Version, or added above the first question.
• Text after the last question: put a line END right after the last question and write what follows below it.
• Answer key: an answer-key section after the questions (a heading such as “Answer key” followed by a table or a list of letters) is not copied into the students' versions.

8Mixing offline (desktop software)

For building question banks and mixing tests on your own computer, without an internet connection.

1. Go to Downloads – offline mixing software and download the installer.
2. Install it, open it and sign in with your ExamQR account.
3. Import the original Word file (written as in sections 1–6 above), choose how many versions to mix and export the result.

Video guides: Installing and using the software · Mixing tests in the offline software

9Common errors and how to fix them

No questions are found

Check how questions start: Question 1: or Question 1., with a space between the word and the number. Use one question word (“Question”, “Câu”, “Pregunta”, “Frage”…) in the whole test.

A question has no correct answer

It is not marked, or another option is marked too. Underline (or make red) only the letter of the correct option.

Options are merged into the question or into each other

Options must start with A. B.… and be separated by the Tab key or a line break, not just spaces.

Images move out of place after mixing

Set the images to In Line with Text (section 6).

The file will not upload

Open it in Word, choose File → Save As, save it as Word Document (.docx) and upload again.

Many things are wrong and you do not want to fix them by hand

Use Convert with AI to have the AI rewrite the test in the right format.

Still stuck? Send us the test file through Contact at the bottom of the page and we will help.

10Reference: every tag

Every tag and marker the software reads, in one place. Tags are lowercase and go at the start of the line; the software removes them when mixing, so they never appear in the test.

Tags at the start of a part heading

A part heading tagged <g> that contains “True/False questions”, “Short answer questions”, “Essay questions” or the same words in another language (“đúng sai”, “verdadero o falso”, “réponse courte”, “Aufsatz”, “uraian”… see the table below) is switched to that kind of question automatically.

Tags for question groups sharing a passage

Without a closing tag, the group ends at the next tag (a part tag or a new group).

Markers inside a question

Keywords accepted in the Word file

Every language in these tables is accepted at the same time: one test can mix them (for example English part headings with Spanish questions). Capital letters, missing accents, a space before the colon (Question 1 :) and the full-width colon ： do not matter. A keyword is read only at the start of a line, so a sentence that merely contains the word is never taken for a keyword.

A part heading that has no tag is recognised from its part word, a number or roman numeral, and the kind of question it names:

Options that keep their place by themselves when mixing, without a # (see section 3):

Tests that mark questions with #

Older ExamQR tests that have no “Question …” words but start each question with a # can still be mixed, as long as the test has more than 10 questions. Options and correct answers are written as in sections 1–2. Lines starting with TL: (solution) are dropped when mixing.

If the test already contains “Question 1:” (or “Pregunta 1:”, “Câu 1:”… in any language), the software reads it by that word, and a # then only means “keep this option in place”.