Exam templates
Exam templates let you save a set of exam settings once and reuse them every time you create an exam, so you don't need to configure the same experience, grading, results and proctoring settings on each exam. Global settings sit alongside templates and set the default exam configuration for your whole portal.
Exam templates are commonly used to:
Run the same type of exam every sitting, such as timed, proctored finals with the same instructions and legal terms
Keep exam settings consistent across a team of admins and educators
Make portal-wide changes in one place using global settings
Considerations
Before you create templates we'd recommend the following:
✅ Set up your global settings first Anything a template doesn't set falls back to your global settings, so your templates only need to cover what's different.
✅ Decide static or dynamic Every template is either Static or Dynamic, matching the type of exam you'll create from it.
✅ Have your quizzes ready Templates hold settings only, you'll still pick your source quiz or quizzes when you create the exam.
Finding templates and global settings
Head over to the Exams page and select Manage Templates. The Manage exam templates page has two tabs:
Exam templates = create and manage your templates
Global settings = set the default exam settings for your portal
How settings are applied
When you create an exam from a template, settings are applied in order of priority. If a setting is configured in more than one place, the highest one in the list below wins.
Settings set on the template
Global settings
Settings on the source quiz
Synap's platform defaults
Settings set on the template
Global settings
Synap's platform defaults
Once the exam has been created you can change any of its settings, these changes only apply to that specific exam.
Set vs inherited settings
Settings you've set on a template are highlighted in your portal's primary colour. Any setting that isn't highlighted is inherited from your global settings, and will keep following them.
If you change a global setting, any template that hasn't set that option will pick up the change. For example, turning flagging on in global settings means every template that doesn't set flagging will now create exams with flagging on.
To stop a global change affecting a template, set that option on the template, even if it's the same as your global setting. For checkboxes, tick it on and off again, the highlight will stay to show it's set on the template.
Resetting settings
Use the reset icon next to a setting to remove it from the template, the highlight will be removed and it'll go back to following your global setting. Reset section and Reset all do the same for a whole section or for the page you're on.
Changes to templates
When you create an exam from a template, the exam takes a copy of the template's settings at that point. Editing or deleting a template won't change any exams already created from it.
Global settings
Global settings are the default exam configuration for your portal. They apply to every new exam, whether or not you use a template, and to any setting a template doesn't set.
Head over to Exams > Manage Templates and select the Global settings tab. Work through the settings pages on the left and set your portal's defaults, making sure you save each page before moving onto the next one.
If you have sub portals, use the selector on the Global settings tab to switch between the root portal and your sub portals.
Use Reset section to clear the settings in one section, or Reset all to clear every setting on the page you're on. There's no reset for individual settings in global settings.
Creating a template
From Exams > Manage Templates, select Create Template. There are 3 ways to create a template:
New template = start from scratch, using your global settings as the starting point
From quiz = copy across the settings configured on an existing quiz
From exam = copy across the settings configured on an existing exam
New template
Give your template a name and description, and select whether it's a Static or Dynamic template. Then go through the settings pages and set only the options you want this template to control, anything you leave will follow your global settings. Save each page before moving onto the next.
From quiz or exam
Select From quiz or From exam and choose your source. If you're creating from a quiz you'll also pick Static or Dynamic. Everything configured on the source is copied across as set on the template, so it'll be highlighted. Reset any settings you'd rather follow your global settings.
The template doesn't stay linked to the quiz or exam it was created from, so changes to the source afterwards won't be pulled through to the template.
Template settings
Templates cover the same settings pages you'll find on an exam, including Experience, Sections, Instructions, Grading, Scoring, Resits, Results, Certificates, Proctoring, Legal, Marking, Security and Communication. Dynamic templates also have a Dynamic page for filters.
A few settings work slightly differently on templates:
Scoring - credits per question, partial credits and penalties can be set on a template. Custom marks on individual questions are still set in the quiz builder.
Sections - static and dynamic templates can both include sections. Templates store the section layout and settings but not which questions go in each section, dynamic sections can also have their own filters.
Option shuffling - shuffling set on the template applies to the exam, but shuffling set on an individual question will still take priority.
Marking - shared marker user groups can be added to a template, individual markers need to be added on each exam.
Dynamic templates
Dynamic templates support tag filters only. Question and EMQ group filters can be added once you've created the exam. If you create a template from a dynamic exam, its existing filters will be copied across.
Creating an exam from a template
Head over to the exams page and select Create exam. Fill in the details and user group as normal, then on the Type step select Template.
Choose the template you want to use, then select your source:
Static template = select a single source quiz
Dynamic template = select one or more source quizzes, then use the question and tag lists as you would for any dynamic exam
Once you've finalised the source, carry on with the rest of your exam set up. The settings from your template will already be applied.
1. Setup: Exam2. Build: ExamWhat isn't included in a template
Some settings are specific to each exam so can't be added to a template:
Questions and quiz content
Schedule and sharing settings
User group access
Settings on individual questions, such as custom marks
Individual markers
Question and EMQ group filters (these can be added on the exam)
Permissions
All admins and managers will be able to create, edit and delete templates and change global settings. For educators, you can create custom roles using the following permissions:
Exams > Global Settings > View
View global settings
Exams > Global Settings > Edit
Change global settings
Exams > Template > Create
Create new templates
Exams > Template > View
View and use templates
Exams > Template > Edit
Edit templates
Exams > Template > Delete
Delete templates
To create an exam from a template, an educator needs permission to create exams and access to view that template, either through the View permission, by owning the template or by being added as a collaborator.
Sub portals
Global Settings
Each sub portal has its own global settings, separate from the root portal. Root portal admins can switch between portals using the selector on the Global settings tab, sub portal admins will only see their own. A new sub portal won't copy the root portal's global settings, it'll use Synap's defaults until its own global settings are saved.
Templates
Templates belong to the portal they were created in. Templates created in the root portal are also available in your sub portals, so they can be used when creating exams in a sub portal.
Sub portalsLast updated
Was this helpful?