The question bank
The question bank is a reusable library of questions, each tagged by subject, topic and difficulty. Building it well once means every future paper – manual or auto-sampled – can be assembled in minutes from trusted, vetted items.
Creating a question
Open Assessments → Question Bank and click New. Each question is a self-contained record carrying its text, type, answer key and marks.
- Enter the question text (rich text, with images or formulae where needed).
- Choose the type – multiple choice, true/false, short answer, numeric, matching, or essay.
- For objective types, enter the options and mark the correct answer so online attempts can auto-mark.
- Set the marks available and, for essays, an optional rubric.
Tagging for reuse
Tags are what make the bank powerful – they let the paper assembler pull exactly the right mix. Tag every question on three axes.
| Tag axis | Example | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | Mathematics | Restricts the bank to the relevant subject |
| Topic | Quadratic equations | Ensures syllabus coverage on a paper |
| Difficulty | Easy / Medium / Hard | Builds a balanced difficulty blueprint |
Question types
The type you choose affects both delivery and marking. Objective types (multiple choice, true/false, numeric, matching) are auto-marked in online attempts. Short-answer and essay types are routed to a marker. Mixing types in the bank is fine – the assembler and marking screen handle each correctly.
Reuse and quality control
Questions can be reused across years and papers. To keep the bank trustworthy:
- Mark a question retired once it has leaked or become outdated, rather than deleting it – this preserves the history of papers that used it.
- Use the last-used date the bank records to avoid repeating the same item in consecutive terms.
- Have a head of department approve new questions before they are eligible for live papers.