Section-wise exams: sections, timers and negative marking

Section-wise exams: sections, timers and negative marking

For: admins

Split an exam into sections — by subject or by topic — with their own time limits, negative marking and shuffle settings, in the order you choose.

Prerequisites

• An exam created in Exam Management > Exam Creation with questions from more than one subject or topic. The subjects / topics you selected become the sections.

Steps

1. Go to Exam Management > Exam Creation and click the Config icon on the exam row to open Advanced Configuration.
2. On the Advanced tab, switch on Conduct exam with sections.
3. Open the Section tab and choose Section Type: Subject wise or Topic wise.
4. The section table lists each section. Use the toggles in the column headers to switch on:
   • Section Time (mins) — enter the minutes for each section. The total must equal the exam duration; otherwise you will see "Total exam time is not matched with entered time" or "Section Time Should Not Exceed Total Exam Time".
   • Negative Marks (%) — the percentage of a question's marks deducted for a wrong answer in that section (for example 0, 50 or 100). Shown when section-wise negative marking is enabled for your institute.
   • Shuffle Question — shuffle questions within that section.
5. Use Move Up / Move Down to set the section order.
6. Click Update.

What candidates experience

• Section tabs (and a sections dropdown) at the top of the exam; a section timer runs when section time is set.
• On the last question of a section, Save & Next asks for confirmation before moving to the next section.
• Once a section is finished, the candidate cannot go back to it. Unused section time is not carried forward — it is removed from the main timer.

Tips

• Set the exam duration first, then split it across sections.
• Preview the exam (Preview icon on the exam row) to check the section order and timers.
• Skill Assessments have their own section setup inside the assessment builder — see Create a Skill Assessment.

Related: How to create and manage exams, Timer for each question.

Need help? Email [email protected] with your institute name, the exam or question ID and a screenshot. You can also connect over phone or schedule a meeting.