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A Guide to Creating Paper Exams

Blended Teaching gives you the ability to create, print, scan, auto-grade and share results for paper exams. All with the same ease as online quizzes. This guide will show you how.

Updated over 2 weeks ago

Blended Teaching lets you create, print, scan, auto-grade, and return paper exams with the same ease as online quizzes. This guide walks you through the complete workflow — from creating your exam to syncing grades with your LMS.

At a Glance

  1. Create your paper exam

  2. Enroll students

  3. Generate and print exam papers

  4. Host the exam

  5. Auto-grade submissions

  6. Review results and sync grades

  7. FAQ

Build With Us - Watch Us Build A Paper Exam ⬇️

1. Creating & Installing The Exam

2. Auto-Grading & Sharing Feedback

1. Creating Your Paper Exam

1.1. Creating a Blank Paper Exam

Start in your Control Center:

  1. Go to Quizzes

  2. Select + Create Quiz

  3. Enter a title and select the total points

  4. Choose Paper Submission

  5. Click Save

You now have a blank Paper Exam — no questions yet, but it’s ready to build.

1.2. Write Exam Instructions

Exam instructions appear on the front page of the question sheet. Use this space to tell students anything they need to know, such as:

  • Time limits

  • Permitted materials

  • What to do with answer sheets after finishing

To add instructions:

  1. In the quizzes tab of your Control Center, click on the name of your paper exam

  2. Select Build

  3. Enter your instructions

  4. Save

1.3. Add Questions

Below the Instructions box on the Build page, add or select questions.

You can:

  • Write Static MCQs or Dynamic MCQs (with changing numbers for each student)

  • Add in individual Static MCQs or Dynamic MCQs from Question Banks

  • Use Question Pools to randomly select questions from Question Banks

Later, you’ll choose whether students receive:

  • The same questions

  • The same questions in a different order

  • Different questions entirely

  • Whether dynamic questions provide different numbers to each student, or the same numbers

1.4. Select Feedback Options

Students can receive feedback once the exam is auto-graded.

To control the feedback settings:

  1. Open the exam Settings

  2. Choose what feedback students see

  3. Choose when they see it

1.5. Choose Randomization Options

To set the Randomization settings for to the Paper options for the exam.

Depending on the questions used, you may see the following options:

  • No randomization. All students receive the same questions, order, and values.

  • Randomize numeric values. Dynamic MCQs generate different numbers per student.

  • Randomize pool questions. Questions are randomly pulled from selected banks.

  • Shuffle question order. Students see the same questions in a different order.

Recommended setup:
For equal difficulty and strong academic integrity, use Dynamic MCQs, enable Randomize numeric values, and Shuffle question order.

2. Enrolling Students

Auto-grading requires each student to have a unique QR-coded question and answer sheet.

For this reason, all students must be enrolled before generating exam papers. If students enroll after papers are generated, you’ll need to delete and regenerate the Exam Package.

To enroll students,

  1. Start by adding the exam to the Course Structure in Blended Teaching, and then

  2. Add the exam into your LMS

⚠️ Important — Enroll all students first
Each student receives a unique QR-coded question and answer sheet.

If students enroll after you generate exam papers, you must delete the existing Exam Package and generate a new one.

2.1. Add the Exam into Blended Teaching, Course Structure

For any content ro assessment to be used by students, it must be added in the Course Structure page.

  1. In your Control Center, go to Course Structure

  2. Click + Module

  3. Name the module (e.g. Midterm Exam)

  4. Publish the module (green tick)

  5. Select + Add Assessment

  6. Choose Quiz From This Course

  7. Select your exam and Publish immediately

2.2 Add the Exam to the LMS (Integrated Textbooks)

If you are using your Blended Teaching tool integrated, follow these instructions. If your tool is unintegrated, skip to section 2.3. If you are not sure which relates to you, ask the bot.

Canvas Instructions

  1. Go to the Settings page of your course.

  2. Click on Apps and then select View App Configurations.

  3. Search for Blended Teaching in the list (it's in alphabetical order). If it's there, you are good to go.

  4. If the Blended Teaching App is not installed, search for the + App button at the top his page.

    1. If available, in the dropdown, select By Client ID. You can find the Client ID on the Settings page of your Blended Teaching Control Center. Add the Client ID where requested, and then complete the installation.

    2. If the + App button is not available, contact your LMS administrator and request that they release the app to your course.

Now that the Blended Teaching is confirmed as installed, its time to add the enroll link for your exam:

  1. In Canvas, go to the Modules page and find or create the module where you want the enroll link for the exam to appear.

  2. Create a Module with the name of your exam, e.g. Mid Term Exam.

  3. Within the Module you just created, select +, then in the dropdown, select External Tool.

  4. Find the Blended Teaching option.

  5. If this is your first time linking content, Blended Teaching will ask you to log in to your Control Center, and select the textbook from which you wish to add content. Just follow the steps, and close that window when completed.

  6. You can now see the list of content in your textbook. Select the exam you wish to add. This will now appear in Canvas.

This creates a graded Canvas assignment. Points, due dates, and availability sync automatically from Blended Teaching.

When students click the link, they’ll be prompted to enroll.

Blackboard Instructions

  1. Navigate to where you want the exam

  2. Select Content Market

  3. Choose Blended Teaching

  4. Log in if prompted

  5. Select your exam

These steps have created a graded assignment in your Canvas gradebook. The points, due dates and end dates will be synced with Blended Teaching. So if you want to change those details, just do so in Blende Teaching.

When students click on the link in Blackboard, they will be asked to enroll for the exam, meaning a question and answer sheet will be created for them later in the process.

2.3. Add the Exam to the LMS (Unintegrated Textbooks)

  1. In Course Structure, create a module for the exam

  2. Add the quiz and publish it

  3. Click the Preview icon

  4. Copy the preview URL

  5. Add this URL to your LMS as a link

When students click the link, they’ll enroll in the exam. If needed, you can later manually add grades to your LMS.

⚠️ Make sure the exam link is published
Students are only enrolled after clicking the exam link.

Confirm the link is visible and accessible in your LMS before exam day.

3. Generate Papers & Host the Exam

3.1. Generate Question & Answer Sheets

  1. Open the exam

  2. Go to the Paper page

  3. Click Generate Paper Version

  4. Download the Exam Package

The Exam Package includes:

  • Question and answer sheets for each student

  • Sorted alphabetically by last name

  • An answer key for manual review if needed

Tip: If questions change or new students enroll, delete the existing package and generate a new one.

⚠️ Don’t reuse old exam papers
Exam papers are student-specific and course-specific.

Always generate a new Exam Package for each course, section, or term.

✅ You’re ready for exam day when:

  • Your Exam Package is downloaded

  • Question and answer sheets are printed

  • Student names appear on each paper

3.2. Tips for Exam Day

  • Papers are printed with each student’s name

  • Hand out both question and answer sheets

  • Students only need to return the answer sheet

  • For large classes, split papers alphabetically (A–L, M–Z)

⚠️ Answer sheets are required for grading
Students must write only on the answer sheet.

Writing on the question sheet cannot be auto-graded.

4. Auto-Grading

4.1. Upload Answer Sheets

After the exam, digitize the answer sheets and upload them to Blended Teaching.

Recommended methods:

  • Small classes (<10 students): Phone photos or scanning apps (PDF, JPG, PNG supported)

  • Large classes: Department scanner with a feeder — upload one combined PDF

Scanning is strongly recommended when available.

Upload files on the Paper page of the exam.

ℹ️ Use clear scans when possible
Blurry, rotated, or poorly lit images may cause grading exceptions.

For best results, use a scanner or ensure photos are flat, well-lit, and upright.

4.2. Review Exceptions

If the system is not confident about an answer, it flags it for review.

You can:

  • Confirm the correct answer

  • Leave it ungraded for discussion with the student

⚠️ Review all exceptions before grading
Grades are not final until all flagged answers are reviewed.

Once complete, click Grade All Ready to finalize grading.

4.3. Grade All

Once all exceptions are reviewed:

  • Click Grade All Ready

Your exam is now fully graded 🎉

5. Reviewing & Sharing Results

5.1. Review Results

You can:

  • Review Quiz Analytics (grade distributions, difficult questions)

  • Review Individual Attempts on the Moderate page

5.2. Share Results with Students

Based on your feedback settings, students access results by clicking the same exam link used for enrollment.

6. Syncing Grades with Your LMS

6.1. Integrated Textbooks

Grades sync automatically. You’re done 🙌

6.2. Unintegrated Textbooks

Canvas

Use the Canvas Grade Sync Wizard to transfer grades without manual copying.

Blackboard, Brightspace & Moodle

Download the Blended Teaching gradebook from your Control Center and manually upload or enter grades in your LMS.

7. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Do I need to enroll students before generating exam papers?

Yes. All students must be enrolled before you generate the Exam Package.
Each student receives a unique QR-coded question and answer sheet. If students enroll later, you’ll need to delete the existing package and generate a new one.

What happens if I change questions after generating papers?

Changes made after papers are generated will not appear on printed exams.

Best practice: Finalize all questions, instructions, and settings before generating papers. If changes are needed later, regenerate the Exam Package.

Can students receive different questions or numbers?

Yes. Depending on your setup, students can receive:

  • The same questions in a different order

  • Different questions selected from Question Pools

  • Different numeric values when using Dynamic MCQs

These options are controlled in the exam’s Settings.

Do students write on the question sheet or the answer sheet?

Students should only write on the answer sheet.
The answer sheet is scanned and graded. Writing on the question sheet cannot be auto-graded.

What file formats are supported for auto-grading?

You can upload:

  • PDF

  • JPG

  • PNG

For large classes, we recommend uploading one combined PDF containing all answer sheets.

Do uploaded pages need to be in a specific order?

No. Page order does not matter.
Each answer sheet is identified using its QR code.

What happens if the system can’t read an answer?

If an answer is unclear, it will be flagged as an exception. You can:

  • Confirm the correct answer

  • Leave it ungraded for discussion with the student

Once all exceptions are reviewed, click Grade All Ready to finalize grading.

Can I manually review or adjust grades?

Yes. You can:

  • Review individual student attempts

  • Confirm or adjust flagged answers

  • Use the answer key included in the Exam Package for manual checks

When do students see their results?

That depends on your feedback settings. You control:

  • What feedback students see

  • When they see it

Students access results by clicking the same exam link they used to enroll.

Will grades automatically sync to my LMS?

  • Integrated textbooks: Grades sync automatically.

  • Unintegrated textbooks:

    • Canvas users can use the Grade Sync Wizard

    • Other LMSs require manual upload or entry

What should I do if something doesn’t look right?

If something seems off:

  1. Check that students were enrolled before papers were generated

  2. Confirm the correct answer sheets were uploaded

  3. Review all grading exceptions

If you still need help, our support team is happy to assist.

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