# Online exam creation: ten question types, AI import | Evalmee > Ten question types, AI-assisted import from Word, PDF, Excel or images, Excel template and Moodle XML, classic or discordance scoring. Source: https://evalmee.com/en/product/create/ FR: https://evalmee.com/fr/produit/creation-examen/ ES: https://evalmee.com/es/producto/creacion-examen/ ES-ES: https://evalmee.com/es-es/producto/creacion-examen/ IT: https://evalmee.com/it/prodotto/creazione-esame/ --- ## Create the exam A paper structured into sections, exercises and questions, with the scoring your subject requires. Evalmee offers ten question types. Four are closed and graded automatically: true/false, single choice, MCQ and matching. Six are open and graded by a person: open, spreadsheet, diagram, code, oral and file upload. Three of them, code, oral and matching, are in beta. ### Write the paper, or import it Four import paths exist, and none of them asks you to retype a paper you have already written. - **AI-assisted import**: Word, PDF, Excel and image documents - **Excel .xlsx template**: sections, exercises, tags, points, up to ten choices per question - **Text format**: a simple syntax, with LaTeX support in question texts and choices - **Moodle XML**: imports questions of type multiplechoice and essay - **Question banks**: importable in bulk, in Excel or Moodle XML format ### Ten question types, four closed and six open The distinction that matters is not the number of types, it is how they are graded: a closed type grades itself, an open type goes through a grader. - **Closed, graded automatically**: true/false, single choice, MCQ, matching - **Open, graded by a person**: open, spreadsheet, diagram, code, oral, file upload - **In beta**: code, oral and matching, available in the editor but still being stabilized - **Structure**: random draw, exercise and section, to organize the paper ### Tags and assessment criteria Tags sort questions by theme or by skill. The criteria-based grading mode adds a grade per criterion alongside the overall grade. - **Tags**: two tag categories per question in the import template - **Assessment criteria**: defined at exam level, reused question by question - **Grading instructions**: the marking guidance, tied to the question - **Grade per criterion**: shown on the submission, in addition to the overall grade ### How is an Evalmee paper structured? A paper is organized on three levels: the section groups exercises, the exercise matches one page seen by the participant, the question is the graded unit. By default, a question you add appears alone on its page; grouping questions means creating an exercise. | Level | What it contains | What it changes for the participant | | --- | --- | --- | | Section | Exercises, or standalone questions | Groups the paper into main parts | | Exercise | Several questions, with an optional shared introduction | Matches one page of the exam | | Question | The question text, the choices or the answer area, the points | The graded unit | The three structural levels of a paper. An exercise can stay unnamed: that is the documented way to put several questions on the same page without showing an intermediate heading. Alongside the section and the exercise, the Structure menu offers the random draw, which pulls from a bank the number of questions or exercises you set. This hierarchy is what makes the draw readable, and it drives the random ordering of sections, pages, questions and choices. ### What question types does Evalmee offer? Ten types, split into two families by the way they are graded. The four closed types (true/false, single choice, MCQ, matching) are graded automatically. The six open types (open, spreadsheet, diagram, code, oral, file upload) are graded by a person. Three of these types are in beta: code, oral and matching. They exist in the editor and can be used, but announcing a beta feature as fully available is not the same promise. | Type | Family | What the participant does | Grading | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | True/false | Closed | Decides between true and false | Automatic | | Single choice | Closed | Ticks a single correct answer | Automatic, according to the MCQ and single-choice scoring scheme | | MCQ | Closed | Ticks one or more correct answers | Automatic, according to the MCQ and single-choice scoring scheme | | Matching (beta) | Closed | Matches the items of two lists to each other | Automatic | | Open | Open | Writes their answer, within the word limit you set | By a grader, AI assistance available | | Spreadsheet | Open | Completes a pre-filled workbook | By a grader | | Diagram | Open | Produces a diagram | By a grader | | Code (beta) | Open | Writes code | By a grader | | Oral (beta) | Open | Answers out loud, in a single take | By a grader | | File upload | Open | Uploads a file as their answer | By a grader | The ten question types, and the way each one is graded. The help centre documents only four of these types today: [MCQ](https://evalmee.com/en/assessment-glossary/#mcq-multiple-choice-question), [single choice](https://evalmee.com/en/assessment-glossary/#single-choice-question) through its scoring scheme, the open question and the spreadsheet question. For the others, this page limits itself to naming them, saying which family they belong to and how they are graded. Not every plan unlocks all ten types: the detail is on the Pricing page. What the six other French platforms document on this point, vendor by vendor, is set out in the [comparison of online exam platforms](https://evalmee.com/en/online-exam-platform-comparison/). ### An MCQ, and everything an MCQ does not cover An automatically graded MCQ measures what can be ticked. It does not measure a piece of writing, a calculation in a workbook, code or an oral answer. For a paper made only of closed questions, the scoring scheme, the random draw and the invigilation are brought together on the [graded and secure online MCQ](https://evalmee.com/en/product/multiple-choice-test-maker/) page. What an MCQ does not cover goes through the six open types, open, spreadsheet, diagram, code, oral and file upload, graded by a person. One exam can mix both families: an MCQ section, then an open question, with a single grade at the end. ### How do you import an existing paper? Four paths exist, and they do not serve the same purpose. Evalmee offers an AI-assisted import, which accepts Word, PDF, Excel and image documents. The other three start from a structured format: the Excel template provided, a documented text syntax and a Moodle XML export. The first path is the one for the paper you already have, in the format you wrote it in. The other three assume prior formatting work, and in exchange they have known limits. If your questions come from a Word file, a spreadsheet or a Moodle course, the [free Moodle converter](https://evalmee.com/en/tools/moodle-question-converter/) puts them into Aiken, GIFT or Moodle XML before the import, and points at the line that would have broken it. | Path | What it accepts | What to know | | --- | --- | --- | | AI-assisted import | Word, PDF, Excel and image documents | Starts from your documents as they are, with no prior formatting | | Excel template (.xlsx) | A complete paper: sections, question texts, tags, points and choices | Ten choices maximum per question, multiple choice and open types | | Text | Sections, exercises, questions, correct choices, open questions, weightings, LaTeX | The exam title is mandatory, and without it the import fails | | Moodle XML | A paper or question banks from a Moodle course | Only multiplechoice and essay questions are carried over | | Generate the questions from a document | A course handout or an existing paper, as Word, PDF, Excel or image | Goes through the AI-assisted import: the suggested questions are reviewed one by one before entering the paper. The free Moodle converter already formats an existing MCQ | The import paths, and what to know about each one. [Question banks](https://evalmee.com/en/assessment-glossary/#question-bank) are not shared across several exams today: they are added exam by exam. We would rather write it here than let you discover it on your second exam. ### How do you define scoring suited to your subject? On choice questions, four settings make up the scoring scheme: the reward, the penalty, the calculation base and the floor. A second mode, discordance scoring, grades the gap between the participant's answer and the expected answer, choices ticked and choices left blank included. Classic [scoring](https://evalmee.com/en/assessment-glossary/#marking-scheme) suits most exams: a mistake costs, a partial answer earns, and the floor prevents negative grades. [Discordance scoring](https://evalmee.com/en/assessment-glossary/#bareme-par-discordance-discordance-scoring) is the one used by health-school competitive exams: you fill in the table that maps a number of discordances to a number of points. #### The available settings - Reward: all or nothing, or proportional to the number of correct choices - [Penalty](https://evalmee.com/en/assessment-glossary/#negative-marking): none, cumulative or absolute - Calculation base: standard, balanced, moderate, or a value you set - [Floor](https://evalmee.com/en/assessment-glossary/#floor-mark): none, zero, or a custom value - Limit on selectable choices: the participant can only tick the expected number - Discordance scoring: a discordances-to-points table that you fill in ### What can a question text contain? The editor accepts formatted text, resizable images, tables, code blocks and mathematical formulas, entered in a dedicated editor or directly in LaTeX. Participants get the same editor and can attach a scan of their handwritten notes. A PDF, video or audio file can also be attached to a question or an exercise. Limiting the number of plays changes the nature of the exercise: a listening comprehension with two plays is not the same test as a document you can replay endlessly. ### Used by - Universities - Business and engineering schools - Training centres - Certification bodies ### What question types does Evalmee offer? Ten. Four closed types, graded automatically: true/false, single choice, MCQ and matching. Six open types, graded by a person: open, spreadsheet, diagram, code, oral and file upload. Code, oral and matching are in beta. ### In which formats can an existing paper be imported? Four paths. The AI-assisted import accepts Word, PDF, Excel and image documents. The other three start from a structured format: the Excel template provided, a documented text syntax and a Moodle XML export. The Excel template accepts ten choices per question, and Moodle XML only carries over multiplechoice and essay questions. ### How does discordance scoring work? A discordance is an incorrect choice ticked or a correct choice left blank. Evalmee counts them, then awards the points according to a table you fill in yourself. It is the mode used by health-school competitive exams, PACES, PASS and LAS. ### Can a PDF, audio or video document be attached to a question? Yes, to a question or to an exercise, and the document can be made visible page by page. For a media file, you set the number of plays allowed and decide whether the participant can pause or skip through it. ### Can an exam be tested before it is delivered? Yes. The preview shows how a page renders in the editor, and the simulation takes you through the full participant experience. It requires pop-up windows to be allowed and remains impossible on an exam already sat. ### Write your first paper Start for free, no credit card required.