Quiz Settings
Control attempts, timers, shuffling, navigation, what learners see, and the certificate on pass — all the rules that shape how a quiz behaves.
Quiz settings decide how a quiz behaves: how many tries a learner gets, how long they have, whether questions are shuffled, what they can see during and after, and more. This page covers every setting. For when a quiz opens and closes, see Quiz availability.
Status
Every quiz has one of three states:
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | Still being built. Only you can see it. |
| Published | Live. Learners can take it (subject to availability and access). |
| Archived | Retired. Kept for records but no longer offered. |
Attempts and retakes
- Maximum attempts — how many times a learner may take the quiz. Leave it open for unlimited tries, or cap it (for example, 3).
- Retake policy — what happens after an attempt is used:
| Policy | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Immediate | The learner can retry right away. |
| Wait a cooldown | The learner must wait a set time before retrying. |
| Needs approval | An admin must approve another attempt. |
| None | No retake once the attempt limit is reached. |
Timers
- Quiz time limit — total time for the whole quiz.
- Per-question time limit — an optional countdown on individual questions.
- Grace period — a small buffer after time runs out before the quiz locks.
- Auto-submit — when time is up, the quiz submits automatically with whatever has been answered.
Shuffling
- Shuffle questions — each learner sees the questions in a different order.
- Shuffle answer options — the choices within a question appear in a different order.
Shuffling makes it harder for learners to copy each other and keeps repeat attempts fresh.
Navigation controls
Decide how learners move through the quiz:
- Allow going back — can they return to earlier questions, or only move forward?
- Allow skipping — can they leave a question unanswered and come back?
- Required questions — mark questions that must be answered before submitting.
What learners see
Control the display during and after the quiz:
- Progress bar — show how far along they are.
- Score breakdown — show how points were earned after finishing.
- Reveal correct answers — show the right answers after submitting.
- Reveal explanations — show the explanation you wrote for each question.
- Custom completion message — a message shown when they finish (for example, "Well done — your instructor will release final marks by Friday").
For a high-stakes exam, you may want to hide correct answers and the score breakdown until grading is complete. For practice, showing them right away helps learners learn.
Scoring settings
- Points per question — set how much each question is worth.
- Negative marking (optional) — subtract points for wrong answers.
- Pass mark — the percentage needed to pass.
See Grading quizzes for how scores are calculated.
Certificate on pass
You can award a certificate automatically when a learner passes the quiz. Connect a certificate template to the quiz, and it issues on a passing result. See Certificates.
Difficulty level
Tag a quiz with a difficulty level (for example, Easy, Medium, Hard) to help organize your library and set learner expectations.
Related pages
- Quiz availability — open/close times, passwords, seat limits.
- Proctoring — lock down a quiz for high-stakes tests.
- Creating quizzes
- Certificates