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Prepare answer books in Ans

This procedure covers the preparation of a written exam in Ans.

1. Create the course​

After signing in to Ans, create the course using a clear naming convention. Use a clear naming convention such as:

Ans course creation

Create or select the course that will contain the exam.

ISA course code + course name + academic year

Example:

MATH-251(c) Numerical Analysis 25/26

2. Create the assignment​

Create a new assignment and use a meaningful exam name, for example:

Exam 30 June 2026

Choose Written assignment.

Create a written assignment in Ans

Use a written assignment for the paper-based exam workflow.

3. Configure grade calculation​

For the federal scale, use:

points / total * 5 + 1

with a minimum grade of 1, maximum grade of 6 and passing grade of 4.0.

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Treat these values as the exam's configured grading policy, not as an automatic requirement for every exam. Verify the intended grading scale for your course.

4. Customize the first page​

Click on Written assignment settings, then under the Cover page section, fill in the Assignment instructions to add the guidelines students need to see on the first page.

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Customize the printed first page and student instructions before generating PDFs.

5. Create sections and questions​

Create sections to organize the exam. A section can optionally start on a new page.

For an open question:

  1. select New question;
  2. choose Open;
  3. enter the question;
  4. set the maximum number of points;
  5. choose the answer-field type;
  6. set the answer-area height.

Configure the question, points and answer area for the printed answer book.

6. Configure grading schemes​

Ans supports several grading approaches:

  • Points by criteria — reviewers tick one or more predefined criteria;
  • Rubrics with levels — one level is selected from a rubric;
  • Slider — manually assign points between zero and the question maximum.

The grading scheme can be adjusted later, including during correction.

Ans grading scheme

Example of an Ans grading scheme.

Ans rubric configuration

Configure the grading method that reviewers will use during correction.

7. Check print constraints​

The CePro printing workflow expects the number of pages in the exam booklet to be a multiple of four.

Before requesting personalization, preview the complete exam and verify the page count, questions, point values and first-page instructions.

For multiple-choice questions, see Create MCQ answer choices.

Next step​

If the exam contains multiple-choice questions, configure them using Create MCQ answer choices. Otherwise, continue with Generate personalized PDFs.