How to run computer-based exams in a Nigerian secondary school

Moving a school’s exams from paper to computers is less about software than about routine. The schools that do it well decide who owns each step, start small, and rehearse before the first real exam. This guide sets out that routine. It applies to any CBT platform, and notes where ExamKeep does a step for you.

1. Decide what moves first

Do not move every subject in one term. Start with objective papers, the multiple-choice and true/false sections, in two or three subjects with teachers who are keen. Continuous assessment tests and mock exams are a good first step because the stakes are lower and they recur, so the routine gets practised.

Theory and essay questions usually stay on paper for now. Most schools run a mixed paper: objective questions on the computer, theory on paper, with both scores combined.

2. Give every step an owner

The roles already exist in your school. Make them explicit:

• Teachers write questions for their subject and class level.
• Heads of department review and approve questions before they can be used.
• The exam officer builds exams from approved questions, opens sittings and watches them live.
• The ICT lead prepares the lab and is on hand during sittings.
• Invigilators supervise the lab, exactly as they would on paper.

Question review matters more on computers than on paper, because a wrong answer key is marked wrong for every student at once. Make HOD approval a rule, not a courtesy.

3. Plan sittings around your computers

Few schools have one computer per student in a class. Divide each class into batches that fit the lab, and run the exam in sittings. With a per-student timer, each student’s time starts when they start, so a batch that sits down late loses nothing.

Shuffling the order of questions and options for each student makes copying from a neighbour pointless, which matters when students sit side by side and batches follow each other.

4. Prepare the lab a week ahead

Check every computer’s browser, open the exam site on each one, and run a practice sitting. Our CBT lab checklist lists every step.

5. Run a practice sitting

Before the first real exam, run a ten-minute practice exam with a real class. Have every student start, answer a few questions, then unplug the lab’s internet for a minute, reconnect and submit. It tests the computers, the student accounts and the invigilators’ routine at the same time, and it shows students that a dropped connection is not a disaster.

6. On the day

• Seat the batch, open the sitting, and let students sign in.
• Students press Start only when their computer check is clear.
• If the connection drops, students keep answering. Nobody reloads or restarts.
• If a computer fails, move the student to a spare one and tell the exam officer.
• Record absent students, and plan their makeup sitting.

7. After the exam

Objective papers are marked as they are submitted, so results are ready when the last student finishes. Review them as staff first: question difficulty often reveals a badly-worded question or a wrong key. Publish to students when the school is satisfied.

The first term is the hardest. By the second, most schools find the exam officer’s work has moved from marking scripts to checking results, and teachers get their weeks back.