How it works

Two ways to use it

In an exam session run by the school

The exams officer sets the exam and its candidates up in advance. Each candidate's document opens with their details already in the page header, and their work is backed up to the server as they type. Staff run the session at app.examdoc.co.uk/admin.

On its own, with no account

Anyone can open app.examdoc.co.uk, fill in the candidate's details and type. Everything stays in that browser on that device.

For the candidate

1. Join the session. On the start screen, choose to join an exam session and type the session code from the board. The device shows the exam's title, the school and the date to confirm.
2. Get in. Either the device shows a short pairing code and the invigilator lets the candidate in from their own screen, or the candidate types their candidate number and the 6-digit PIN from a desk slip. The school chooses which, per session.
3. Type. The document opens with the candidate's name, number, centre and exam in the header. Bold, italic, underline, lists, alignment, six fonts, sizes from 9 to 36 point, line spacing (double by default) and page breaks. The page is an A4 sheet that breaks lines and pages exactly where the printed script will.
4. Carry on whatever happens. A line under the toolbar says how the backup is going, such as "Backed up 14:32" or "Working offline, last backed up 14:20". The work is saved on the device either way.

During a session the candidate cannot open another document, start a new one, change the details or log out. Closing the browser and opening it again brings the same document back.

If the exams officer has allowed it, the candidate has a British English spelling check: misspelt words are underlined, and suggestions appear when the candidate asks for them. More about the spelling check.

For the invigilator

The invigilator runs the session from their own laptop or phone, never a candidate's device.

• Before the exam: sign in, open today's session and write its code on the board. The code works from 30 minutes before the start.
• Letting candidates in: each waiting device's pairing code appears on the session page; pick the candidate for it and press Unlock. With desk slips, candidates let themselves in.
• The live view: every candidate's last backup, refreshed every five seconds and highlighted when it falls more than two minutes behind the rest of the room.
• Swapping a device: release the old one and let the candidate in on another (below).
• Finishing: Finish on a candidate's row locks their device; their last backup is their script. Close the session when the exam is over.

Invigilators see only today's sessions and any still open.

For the exams officer

• The school: its name and centre number, which print on every script. Invite colleagues as exams officers, invigilators or IT.
• Sessions: the exam's title, board, specification and component, the date, start time, length and room.
• Candidates: typed or pasted in from a spreadsheet, as candidate number and name. Nothing else about the candidate is stored.
• Spelling check: off for every candidate unless you allow it, one candidate at a time. A change during the exam reaches the device within 15 seconds.
• How candidates get in: the invigilator unlocks each device (nothing to prepare), or desk slips with a PIN for each candidate (print them, or download them as a PDF).
• Afterwards: each candidate's script as a PDF, or every script in one zip file.
• The audit log: who did what and when, on screen or downloaded as a spreadsheet file.
• How long work is kept: 180 days after the session closes by default; you can choose longer, keep one session longer or delete it early. How retention works.

Exams officers must use two-factor sign-in.

For IT

ExamDoc on its own cannot stop a candidate opening another tab or program: the device has to do that. We have written guides for locking a device down to ExamDoc:

• Chromebooks managed in the Google Admin console: kiosk mode.
• Windows laptops: Safe Exam Browser, free and open source, with a ready-made configuration file.

They also say what any lock-down must allow: the two addresses ExamDoc uses, browser storage that survives a restart, the browser's own spellcheck and writing aids switched off, and the right mouse button for the spelling menu.

In the staff pages, IT staff see the list of sessions with how many candidates each has, so they know when the devices are needed. They never see a candidate's name or work.

When things go wrong

The wifi drops

The candidate carries on. The work is saved on the device as always, the backup line says "Working offline", and the backup catches up by itself when the connection returns.

A laptop dies

The invigilator presses Release device on the candidate's row, then lets the candidate in on another device. The document comes back from the last backup, and the candidate carries on. Anything typed after that backup is only on the old device.

The server cannot be reached when the exam starts

The exam goes ahead without the session: each candidate starts a document on the device, with their details typed in, and the invigilator saves the documents from each device at the end. Only the backup and the live view are missing.

A candidate's device is used by someone else, or an old device comes back

One candidate per device and one device per candidate, enforced by the server. A device that no longer holds its candidate stops and shows "Ask the invigilator".

Printing and downloading scripts

Print and Download as PDF make the same document: real, searchable text with the candidate's details in the header of every page, and the date, a signature line and "Page X of Y" in the footer. No line is split across two pages.

In a session, the exams officer downloads the scripts from the staff pages. Each PDF is made in their browser from the server's latest backup, with the same code the candidate's device uses, so it is the same document. Nothing is stored as a PDF on the server.

The printed script remains the official record.

Offline, installed, and updates

• Works offline. Once ExamDoc has been opened online on a device, it opens, saves, prints and downloads with no connection.
• Installs like an app on Chromebooks, Windows laptops and Macs, from the browser.
• Never updates mid-exam. A new version only takes over once the app has been closed and opened again.
• Browsers. Checked in Chrome and Firefox. Checks in Edge and Safari are still to come.

Without an account

Open ExamDoc, choose to create a document and fill in the candidate's details. Documents are kept in that browser on that device, and nowhere else.

• Between candidates, the invigilator deletes the documents from the Open dialog.
• The invigilator can export every document in the browser to one file and import it on another computer, to keep a copy or move machines. The file is not encrypted, so keep it where only staff can reach it.
• The spelling check is off, and needs the invigilator to turn it on.