> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.lena.africa/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Creating an Exam > How teachers create CBT exams on Lena — adding questions, configuring settings, assigning students, and publishing. As a teacher, you create and manage CBT exams through the **Teacher App**. This guide covers the entire process from creation to publishing. **Before you begin:** You need to be a teacher with an existing course and enrolled students. *** ## Creating a new exam Navigate to the course in the Teacher App and go to the **CBT** section. The CBT exams list for your course appears. Tap the button to start building your exam. The exam creation form opens.

Create CBT exam form with fields for title, description, duration, and exam settings

| Field | Description | | --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Title** | Exam name (e.g., "Midterm Exam", "Final Assessment") | | **Description** | Instructions for students (read before starting) | | **Duration** | Time limit in minutes (e.g., 60, 90, 120) | | **Start time** | When the exam window opens (students can start from this time) | | **End time** | When the exam window closes (students can't start after this) | | **Max attempts** | How many times a student can take the exam (usually 1) | | **Shuffle questions** | Randomize question order for each student | | **Show results** | When students can see their scores | | **Tab-switch limit** | Maximum tab switches before auto-submission (e.g., 3) | Tap **Save**. The exam is saved as a **draft** so you can continue adding questions and configuring settings. The exam appears in your Drafts tab. *** ## Adding questions CBT questions are all **multiple-choice** format. Find your exam in the CBT list (under **Drafts**) and click it. The exam detail view opens. Navigate to the **Questions** tab. The question list appears (empty for a new exam). For each question: 1. **Write the question text** — Use the editor to format your question. You can include bold, italics, lists, and more. 2. **Add answer options** — Enter options A, B, C, D (and more if needed). Each option has a text field. 3. **Select the correct answer** — Mark which option is correct. 4. **Set marks** — How many points this question is worth.

Question editor with question text field, options A through D, correct answer selector, and marks input

For math and science exams, use the **math equation editor** to add properly formatted equations to questions and answer options.

Math equation editor toolbar with formatted equation inserted into a CBT question field

Use the **Preview** feature to see how questions will look to students before publishing. The preview opens showing the student's view of the question.

Question preview showing how the question and answer options appear to students during the exam

Add all your questions. The exam's total marks are calculated automatically as the sum of all question marks. *** ## Importing questions from an Excel file If you have many questions to add, you can import them in bulk from an Excel spreadsheet instead of entering them one by one. In the **Questions** tab of your exam, tap the **Import** or **Upload** button. You'll see an option to **download the template**. Download it to use as a starting point — the template file has the correct column headers pre-filled. 📥 Download question import template Open the template in Excel or Google Sheets. Each row is one question. The first two columns are required, and you can add as many option columns as needed: | Column | Required | Description | | ------------------ | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Question** | Yes | The question text | | **Correct Answer** | Yes | The text of the correct answer (must exactly match one of the option columns) | | *(Option columns)* | At least 1 | Additional columns for answer options — you can name them anything (e.g., `Option A`, `Option B`, `Option C`, `Option D`) | The `Correct Answer` column should contain the exact text of the right answer. All other columns beyond `Question` and `Correct Answer` are treated as answer options. You need at least one option column in addition to the correct answer. **Example spreadsheet:** | Question | Correct Answer | Option A | Option B | Option C | Option D | | ----------------------------------- | -------------- | -------- | -------- | -------- | ------------- | | What is the capital of Nigeria? | Abuja | Abuja | Lagos | Kano | Port Harcourt | | Which planet is closest to the Sun? | Mercury | Venus | Mercury | Mars | Earth | | What is 2 + 2? | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | The correct answer text must appear **exactly** in one of the option columns. Lena uses this to identify which option is correct. The answer options are automatically shuffled for each student during the exam. Select your completed `.xlsx` file and upload it. Lena validates the file and shows a summary of the questions that will be imported. Review the imported questions to make sure they look correct. Once confirmed, the questions are added to your exam. You can still edit individual questions after import. * The file must be in `.xlsx` format (Excel workbook) * The `Question` and `Correct Answer` columns are required — all other columns are treated as answer options * Each question must have at least **2 answer options** total (including the correct answer) * Data must be on the **first (active) sheet** of the workbook Excel import is great for quickly building large question banks. Prepare all your questions in a spreadsheet and upload them in one go. You can always edit or delete individual questions after importing. *** ## Assigning students Specify which students can take the exam: Open your exam and navigate to the **Students** section. The student assignment view appears. Select students from your course's enrolled students list, or assign by class/group. Selected students appear in the assigned list. Make sure to assign all the students who should take the exam before publishing. Students who aren't assigned won't see the exam on their dashboard. *** ## Exam settings explained ### Duration and time window * **Duration** — How long each student has once they start (e.g., 60 minutes) * **Start time to End time** — The window during which students can begin the exam Example: Exam duration is 60 minutes, window is 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. A student who starts at 11:30 AM still gets the full 60 minutes (ending at 12:30 PM). ### Tab-switch limit Set the maximum number of tab switches before the exam is auto-submitted: * **0** — No tab switches allowed (strictest) * **3** — Three warnings before auto-submission (moderate) * **Unlimited** — No restriction (most lenient) ### Show results | Option | Behavior | | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------- | | **Immediately** | Students see scores right after submitting | | **After deadline** | Scores visible after the exam window closes | | **Manually** | You control when to publish results | *** ## Publishing the exam When your exam is ready: 1. Review all questions using the **Preview** feature 2. Confirm students are assigned 3. Tap **Publish**. The exam is now visible to assigned students during the exam window. After publishing, the exam becomes available to students during the specified time window. Make sure all questions are finalized before publishing — editing questions after students have started may cause issues. *** ## Managing your exams Your CBT exams are organized into tabs: | Tab | Description | | ------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | **Drafts** | Exams you're still building (not visible to students) | | **Published** | Active exams that students can take | | **Past** | Completed exams whose time window has passed | *** ## Proctor invitations If your school admin assigns you as a proctor (invigilator) for another teacher's exam, you'll receive an email invitation. You can accept or decline: 1. Open the Teacher App — you'll see the pending proctor invitation 2. Review the exam details, assigned class, and any notes from the admin 3. Tap **Accept** to confirm you'll proctor the exam, or **Decline** if you're unavailable Proctoring is **in-person** — your role is to oversee students physically during the exam session. The CBT system does not include live screen monitoring. *** ## Tips for creating effective exams * **Write clear questions** — Avoid ambiguity in question text and answer options * **Use the preview** — Always preview questions to check formatting, especially for math equations * **Test the duration** — A good rule: give students 1-2 minutes per question * **Set a reasonable tab-switch limit** — 3-5 switches is common (some are accidental) * **Provide instructions** — Use the description field to tell students what to expect *** ## Related guides * [Managing Exam Results](/cbt/managing-exam-results) — monitor submissions and publish results * [Exam Rules & Policies](/cbt/exam-rules) — understand the rules your students will follow * [Admin CBT Oversight](/cbt/admin-oversight) — how admins approve exams before they go live * [CBT Troubleshooting](/cbt/troubleshooting) — solutions to common CBT issues