# 4. Advanced

## Exam Security

### ⛔️ Restrict by IP

You can restrict your exams to a specific IP address, or a set of IP addresses using our IP restriction feature, which can be accessed from **Exams > Advanced > Security > Restrict by IP**.

IP restriction will mean that candidates can only enter the exam if they are accessing from a particular location that you have specified. This can be helpful if, for example you are running a test in a physical test centre, or if you need to ensure that your exam cannot be accessed in certain countries/regions.

When you enable this section, a box will appear which you can use to enter IPs which you want to allow. You should type in 1x IP address per line. 

The box will accept any valid **IPv4 or IPv6** address, as well as [CIDR](https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/understanding-ip-addresses-subnets-and-cidr-notation-for-networking) ranges.

When enabling this feature, there are a few things you may want to bear in mind:

* Most people's home networks will use dynamic IPs, this means that their IP address will change periodically. For this reason, if you are conducting a remote exam to be taken from candidate's own homes/devices, this option is probably not suitable for you
* If your users are using VPNs, then this may affect the IP that they are connecting from

We strongly recommend testing this feature out, by assigning an exam to your internal team or admins, prior to launching it with real students. Whilst the feature itself is very simple to set up, if the IPs are not set-up correctly, or if there are unexpected proxies/VPNs in-use on your network, then this could have a significant impact. 

If you are in doubt, speak to your IT team who should be able to advise on the IP addresses / CIDR ranges to use, or feel free to get in touch with our support team for further advice. 

<figure><img src="https://3316915154-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MkgvUeCmTPeNouRxGPC%2Fuploads%2FP4ZXfEn9kfIDI7wbcBax%2FScreenshot%202023-03-23%20at%2005.10.25.png?alt=media&#x26;token=695a89e2-bbc9-49da-9a26-5a1650739961" alt=""><figcaption><p>Example of an exam with Restrict by IP enabled. The first IP line shows a specific IPv4 address, and the second line uses CIDR notation to specify a block of IPs from 192.0.2.0 to 192.0.2.24. Candidates will only be allowed into the exam if they are accessing it from one of these IPs</p></figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="https://3316915154-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MkgvUeCmTPeNouRxGPC%2Fuploads%2F14XPDL3XRdoB5LQbCC71%2FScreenshot%202023-03-22%20at%2013.03.37.png?alt=media&#x26;token=76b3adc3-386a-4c03-b40f-d359cd6c1990" alt=""><figcaption><p>Exam that can't be entered as it is being accessed from a non approved IP address</p></figcaption></figure>

### ⏯ Resume attempt settings

You can use the Resume Attempt settings to specify when, or if, candidates should be allowed to resume an exam attempt, once it has been started. The options you can choose from are shown below:

| Resume setting           | Description                                                                                            |
| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Always allowed (default) | Candidates can start and resume their attempt, with no restrictions                                    |
| Same session             | Candidates can resume their attempt, but only from the same device and network that they started it on |
| Never                    | Candidates cannot resume their attempt once it has started                                             |

{% hint style="warning" %}
🚨 "**Never**" is a very strict setting that means that a candidate will be kicked out of the exam if they refresh their browser - we only recommend using this in very high-stakes situations, or where you have complete control over the exam environment. "Same session" should provide a strong level of security for most situations, whilst also providing some flexibility for computer crashes or other unexpected situations
{% endhint %}

### **⏯ Resume configuration**

Customise the Restrict by IP resume rules and select an option for whether candidates can resume their exam or if they must submit in one setting. <mark style="background-color:yellow;">Keep in mind that for timed exams the timer will continue to run down even if the candidate has closed their exam.</mark>

<figure><img src="https://3316915154-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MkgvUeCmTPeNouRxGPC%2Fuploads%2FXwF5QtjxXjR63ovPz1Wr%2FScreenshot%202025-01-20%20at%2010.54.24.png?alt=media&#x26;token=1fab5ee8-0d37-4862-9001-bc94ae1f723a" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### 🔒 Locked

Locked exam attempts can't be started until they are manual unlocked by an admin or educator. Attempts can be locked even if this setting isn't enabled when it is scheduled.

When creating an exam from the communications page select 'Locked'

When an exam is locked and open a student will not be able to start that attempt until it has been unlocked.

<figure><img src="https://3316915154-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MkgvUeCmTPeNouRxGPC%2Fuploads%2F0mUDQMr8R6yPBK4zB6iu%2FScreenshot%202023-02-21%20at%2014.42.29.png?alt=media&#x26;token=410fd3ac-8104-4618-a31a-9295ded1512a" alt=""><figcaption><p>Student side locked exam</p></figcaption></figure>

To unlock the exam just select the user/s and use the unlock button&#x20;

<figure><img src="https://3316915154-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MkgvUeCmTPeNouRxGPC%2Fuploads%2FaSFkWz9iFMsi6DVIOKOB%2Funlockattempt.gif?alt=media&#x26;token=1affb0c2-2a22-4a8f-a198-eda1d9e8cec7" alt=""><figcaption><p>Unlocking exam attempts</p></figcaption></figure>

When it's unlocked and as long as the open window has been met, users will be able to start their exam as normal

<figure><img src="https://3316915154-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MkgvUeCmTPeNouRxGPC%2Fuploads%2F43mJEXcA14BQYpKB8aj0%2FScreenshot%202023-02-21%20at%2014.44.28.png?alt=media&#x26;token=57e35fed-915a-4a9c-b183-f16b2a97677f" alt=""><figcaption><p>Unlocked attempt ready for the student to start </p></figcaption></figure>

## :key: Attempt Passcodes&#x20;

When using Locked exam attempts  you can enable the option to allow users to unlock their attempt with a passcode. The passcodes setting can be enabled in the security tab of an exam.

<figure><img src="https://3316915154-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MkgvUeCmTPeNouRxGPC%2Fuploads%2FcAA9pRNknI3njmltr0zQ%2FScreenshot%202025-07-15%20at%2016.38.31.png?alt=media&#x26;token=1db6129c-0c07-41e9-bfc4-976b071b6fd6" alt=""><figcaption><p>Passcodes can be found under the 'Locked' security setting</p></figcaption></figure>

Once enable a passcode will be randomly generated, this can then be entered by users to access the exam.

<figure><img src="https://3316915154-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MkgvUeCmTPeNouRxGPC%2Fuploads%2Ft0vHFXtbAh0fdsGoKRwP%2Fezgif.com-video-to-gif-converter.gif?alt=media&#x26;token=1ed23e85-e27d-4fc1-8907-4ea0ba1e8b17" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

##

## Proctoring

Learn more about the proctoring options in the docs below

{% content-ref url="../proctoring" %}
[proctoring](https://academy.synap.ac/doc/exams/proctoring)
{% endcontent-ref %}

### Legal

If enabled, candidates will be presented with the information you enter and will need to accept or acknowledge them before starting the exam.  You can select a title, body and checkbox label.

If a user does not select the checkbox, they won't be able to start the exam

<figure><img src="https://3316915154-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MkgvUeCmTPeNouRxGPC%2Fuploads%2FPXvYQdS5e5Eo0QheVUnj%2FScreenshot%202024-05-14%20at%2014.47.26.png?alt=media&#x26;token=bcd5f00e-ef4d-40b1-ba52-2e4f5a81bf34" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="info" %}
We recommend including the title - Legal - within the checkbox label. This makes it explicitly clear to candidates what the checkbox is related to
{% endhint %}


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