How do I create an assessment and choose subjects?

To set up an assessment, create a new assessment, give it a name and a start date and time, and add the applicants or assessment group who will sit it. Then choose the subjects.

Add each subject the candidates will take, using the entry point drop down menu in the top left to show the relevant age group subjects.

Once your subjects are in, there are a few optional settings worth knowing about:

• Mandatory rest breaks. A timed break after a subject you choose, applied to everyone in the assessment. It cannot be skipped, and candidates cannot move on until it ends. Without this, candidates can still take a natural pause between subjects, they just won't be held at a set break.
• Practice questions. Three short, unscored warm-up questions before each subject, to help candidates get comfortable with the format. You set a time limit for these, with five minutes is usually plenty.
• Allow rest breaks. Switch this on if any of your candidates are entitled to a rest break as part of their SEN provisions. It has to be enabled here, at the assessment level, for those candidates to see the pause option on their screen. See “How do I add rest breaks and extra time?” for more.

When you are ready to save, you have two options. Save as Draft keeps the assessment fully editable, so you can come back and change the name, subjects, settings or applicants at any time. Save and Start Now locks the core settings in: you can still add candidates last minute, but you cannot change the setup after that.

Our recommendation is to set every session up as a draft in advance, then on the morning of the exam open each one and click Save and Start Now. That way everything is prepared ahead of time, but you keep the flexibility for any last-minute adjustments.

Select the 'Start Now' button at the top to make the exam live, and candidates can begin as soon as they have logged in on their end.