Recommendations for the format of on-campus written exams

On-campus written exams should be formatted accordingly to facilitate a smooth process for both students and staff.

Overview of the process

Subject Coordinators will first need to request an on-campus written exam in the Exam Portal. They will also need to provide Instructions and permitted materials that will be required for the exam, nominate an exam delegate other than themselves, and indicate whether they would like to opt out of scanning. Once the submission has been completed, the following process will take place.

  • SASS Exam Support will send an email with links and deadlines for the Exam Paper Submission Form and Cover Sheet Submission Form. Submit a PDF version of the exam in the Exam Paper Submission Form. Follow the Exam paper: Guidelines and recommendations section below for guidelines on formatting the exam paper. For guidance on the cover sheet, follow the Exam cover sheet submission form guide.
  • SASS Exam Support will process the exam papers, and add the standard University of Melbourne examinations coversheet. The coversheet will be generated using the information that was entered into the Exam Portal and Exam Paper Submission Form.
  • A digital master copy of the final exam will be shared with Subject Coordinators and nominated delegates.
    • Print checks will be available to subjects that requested this option in the Exam paper submission form.
  • SASS Exam Support will host the exam sitting per the examinations timetable and completed exam papers will be collected, scanned and processed. For more details on scanning, follow the Exam scanning guide.
    • For exams that have opted out of scanning, papers will be delivered physically following the exam session.
  • All exam papers will be uploaded and individually linked to students. SASS Exam Support will link the exam to the designated assignment in the LMS subject, set up the exam template and outline in Gradescope, and group multiple choice answers.
  • Subject Coordinators and the nominated delegate will be notified within 3 business days of their exam date when the exam is ready for marking in Gradescope. For information on marking Gradescope exams, follow the Marking in Gradescope guide.

All exams must meet submission deadlines if they require scanning of written answers, as this ensures that exam papers can be processed, printed and scanned in a timely manner. If the submission deadlines are not met, exam papers will not be printed or scanned, and faculties will need to print their own exam papers, which SASS Exam Support will deliver to faculties after the exam sessions.

Exam paper: Guidelines and recommendations

Exams can be created using any application, but must meet the following formatting guidelines to allow for smoother setup and marking in Gradescope. All exam files will need to be converted to a PDF file.

The form only allows for the submission of PDF files up to 100MB. If the exam paper is larger than this, submit a ServiceNow request to SASS Exam Support (do not attach the file to the request). The team will be in contact to provide alternate means of securely receiving the exam paper.

The following guidelines are applicable to all exams regardless of whether or not they require scanning. Additional requirements for exams that require scanning will be outlined in the Scanned exam paper requirements section.

Font size and embedding

  • Use a non-serif font such as the University supported Source Sans Pro for legibility and accessibility.
  • For exams that require non-latin fonts, choose an equivalently accessible font where possible.
  • Use font size 11 unless the question requires a different font size.
  • Embed fonts into the PDF to ensure that the printed version uses the font you have chosen. For instructions on how to embed fonts, follow this guide Instructions on how to embed fonts.

Image sizing

  • Images should be sufficiently sized so that they are legible and all elements can be clearly identified.
  • If students are required to annotate or mark-up an image, leave enough space to do so.
  • Consider the total length of your exam when adding and/or sizing images.

Question numbering

  • Exam questions should be sequentially numbered e.g. Q1, Q2, Q3.
  • Questions can have subsections such as Q1. a), Q1 b) or Q1.1, Q1.2, Q1.3 etc, but should be consistent throughout the exam.
  • If this is a scanned exam, SASS Exam Support will replicate the question numbering used in the exam paper when setting up the outline in Gradescope.

Page numbering

Page numbering assists SASS Exam Support when generating scanning/tracking codes and cross-checking the proper sequencing of student exam papers.

  • As a standardised cover sheet will be added to all exams, the first page of your exam should start at page 3.
  • Page numbering should be placed in the footer, formatted as “page 3 of 20”

Scanned exam paper requirements

Header space and margins

  • Reserve 2cm for the top margin on each page to leave space for the control and tracking codes that will be added by the printing vendor. If you are using Microsoft Word, keep the top margin as the Word default.

  • Do not include headers on pages that contain exam questions. The SASS Exam Support team will be adding markers and numbers to the header space that make it easier to sort pages when uploading the submissions to Gradescope, and headers will interfere with this. Use footers instead.

    Picture of exam paper question. Exam question is numbered, Header space allows space for labelling at top right, Answer boxes are clearly defined with enough room for answers and the page is numbered in the footer.

  • Any additional reference materials that will be provided to students in addition to their exam papers (e.g. case studies, formulae sheets, reference sheets), should include a header on the top of the right of each page that clearly states the exam code and the type of material that is being supplied.This ensures clarity and consistency in identifying the materials to students. As reference materials will be collected in-venue and destroyed, there is no requirement to keep 2cm of the top margin clear for the scanning control and tracking codes.

    A header for an exam that uses a formulae sheet reads EXAM10001_25_SM1 - Formulae Sheet

Answer boxes

The suggested areas where students write their responses must be clearly indicated by answer boxes. These boxes should be within the default page margins, and allow more than enough room for students to write their answers. Answer boxes are necessary to aid the Gradescope marking workflow.

For guidance on setting up answer boxes for multiple choice questions, reference the Answer boxes for multiple choice questions section.

We suggest showing students what the Gradescope template will look like and how they will need to write their responses by providing a low stake, mock or formative assessment so that students can familiarise themselves with the experience.

Extra room for answers

  • In addition to the answer boxes, exam papers must include extra pages, clearly labelled as extra answer space, at the end of the paper to provide extra room for students to respond or correct mistakes. There will be a note on the cover sheet of the exam informing students of these extra pages that can be used as extra space for answering questions. Add two or three extra pages to your exam papers so that the number of pages that will be printed is an even number. This is to prevent any loose blank sheets becoming lost when collected and scanned.
  • If additional paper should be provided for students to use that does not need to be included with their submission (e.g. for note-taking purposes), request this as reference material to be printed separate from the exam paper, when submitting the Exam Paper PDF to the Exam Paper Submission Form.
  • Include guidance for students on how they should indicate when they’ve used these additional pages for their responses, and clearly label these pages as such.
  • In the two papers below, students are indicating that they have not finished answering the question and will continue in the provided additional pages.

An example of how a student can indicate an incomplete response

An example of how a student can indicate an incomplete response

Answer boxes for multiple choice questions

Multiple choice questions (MCQs) must be formatted as follows to clearly indicate where students need to write their answer. This ensures the results will be sortable when uploaded to Gradescope.

As students will need to handwrite their answer, all answer options for a multiple choice question must be labeled with a capital letter. An answer box must be placed under the question, accompanied by the text, “write your CAPITAL letter answer in this box.”

Example of how multiple choice questions and short answers are presented in an exam paper

Multiple choice questions will not be automatically marked in Gradescope. For more information, follow the Gradescope marking guide for exam MCQs.

If the exam consists solely of multiple choice questions, we strongly recommend that the exam be run as an on-campus digital exam (LMS Classic Quiz).

Staff resources

For guides on creating LMS Assignments with Gradescope.

Workshops on LMS Assignments and Gradescope are regularly scheduled.

Contact SASS Exam Support for support on creating your exam PDF.

This guide was last updated 25 Aug 2025.

Submit an LMS support request for further assistance or to report any errors or omissions in this guide.