What is Online Exam Software?

Online examination software is an IT solution used by universities, colleges, schools, and other examination bodies to conduct tests timely and accurately. Also, known as online test software, it is used to ensure paperless examinations with ease. Computer-based online exam software is available in both web-browser format and software format. The exam app is customizable where examiner can set time and question paper format and conduct without any hassle. Also, exams can be taken from anywhere at any time.

Online test taking software helps organize tests and takes exams with a successful outcome. With online test software for PC, you can also check the paper, calculate marks, percentile, and grades of students.

Online exam creator software also creates a ranking list for students and provides a comprehensive analysis of the class performance.

Difference Between Pen and Paper Based Examination and Online Exam Platform

• Pen and paper based exam is labour-driven, and time consuming, which makes it an outdated way of taking exams. Online exam software, on the other hand, delivers speedy solutions for conducting exam, evaluating assessment tests and generating results.  
• The assessment of paper-based exams lacks accuracy while online exam software ensures an error-free examination process. The assessment post exam is accurate in case of online examination without any human error.
• Pen and paper based exams require huge amount of resources such as faculty staff, physical question paper, sitting tables, space etc. In case of online examination software, students just need the internet connectivity and a system to take assessment tests online.  
• Online exams are an easy and effective way of conducting tests. The online exam platform is also safe from cheating as students don’t have to sit in the same room.

How Does Online Exam Software Work?

There are several benefits of using online examination system software, such as it provides a data bank to store question papers. Use online examination software solutions for not just designing the format of your question paper but also picking questions from the inbuilt data or question bank. The entire mechanism for conduction exams is automated, starting from the generation of results to the creation of report cards and sharing the results with students.

Online exam app and web-based online examination software are easy to operate in a few simple steps.

• Step 1: In the first step, the exam environment is set up, either in a web browser or in an application. Post that, the question sets are uploaded on the browser or app by the test conductor. At this stage, a learning management system (LMS) integration occurs and the results are confirmed.
• Step 2: Huge heaps of candidate data is fed to the online exam software, time slots are picked and subsequently a link is sent to the student/examinee on their emails.
• Step 3: The examinee opens the link to login and attempts it after going through a three-step authentication with online examination software. Online exams are often recorded and therefore can be proctored for high-stakes exams by AI or human proctor.
• Step 4: Once you’re done with the test, the exam app auto-evaluates the examinee answers to generate a real-time result report. Once the report is created, it is ready to be shared in PDF or HTML formats.
• Step 5: Following that, an in-depth analysis of the entire test result can be done on a group level and can be evaluated for results with the help of online assessment software.

Who Uses Online Examination Software?

The range of institutions can benefit from using the best online exam software:

1. Universities: Online exam software is most needed at schools, colleges, universities and other training and skill development authorities to conduct examination timely in the most honest and fair manner.
2. Private and public selection authorities: Private and public institutions also conduct exams like CAT, GATE, NEET, UPSC, and so on. Having online examination software is important for them to select the most qualified candidates of all.
3. Companies: Organisations and business firms have also adopted this practise of conducting online tests for promotions. Online assessment software helps evaluate the skills and expertise of a candidate.
4. Short-term value addition test: Employees interested in any short term value addition course, also take online exams to get easy certification to add on their CV. There also, they need these online tests to deliver results and certificates fast.

15 Key Features of Online Examination Software and Online Exam Apps

• Question Paper Formation

Online examination apps work comprehensively to build a question paper. It can store multiple question papers and allows users to make a fresh new question paper from the data bank. The online exam application also lets users format the question paper according to the exam they want to make.

• Web-Based Online Exam

Online exam platform creates a total paperless experience for conducting an examination. The question paper is available on a screen, and the hassle of collecting answer papers at the end is done away. Online test conducting software allows administrators to keep track of time and automatically finish the exam when the time ends.

• Multi-Lingual Support

Exams of different languages can be conducted across the country. The online test software is a comprehensive solution that provides support for multiple languages.

• OMR Reading

OMR stands for Optical Mark Recognition; as more and more examinations are becoming objective-based OMR sheets are used for evaluation. Best online exam software has the feature of OMR reading, which makes evaluation easier.

• Page Navigation

During the examination, students get the option to go back and forth among the pages during the exam and cross-check their answers. 

• Time Management

Examiners conducting the paper can make it time-free or time-bound with software for online exam. Time limitations can be set on exam level, page level or both. Examiners can also set the date and time of the exam and assign the work to different invigilators for different dates.

• Work Management

A best online exam software allows organizations to create numerous user accounts, and assign and designate work inflow. You can assign different roles or permission to the users, and collaborate while designing a test, collecting responses and analyzing results.

• Streamlining Examination Process

Examiners can create a single unique link or embed several links for exam access. They can create several sets of paper for an exam and then conduct it at the same time.

• School ERP Integration

Educational institutes are searching for online exams conducting software that can integrate with the school ERP software. The integration helps institutes generate results and oversee the student’s growth. Software for online exam can also be used to link the question bank databases to their online courses to boost cohesive workflow. Educational institutes can now create a cohesive profile of their students.

• Customization of Test-Taking Options

Online exam software enables you to customize test-taking options as per the requirement of their users. The software leverages questions per page, question skipping, spellchecks, and various other features so that it will be easier to use.

• Configurable Roles and Permissions

This enables you permission to create, administer, and manage the exams. Various customizable options of the software gives you control over who will manage, administer. On the management level, the best online exam software allows users to collaborate in designing an exam, collecting responses, and analysing results.

• High-Level Proctoring

This feature enables users to create a secure environment for examinations. Examiners can verity the exam taker's identity and check their activities during examination hours. Moreover, online test software allows the examiners to lock the web browsers during test. Online test software

• Onscreen Evaluation for Instant Results

The online exam mobile app allows online checking of the answer sheets. This feature saves lots of time wasted in checking the answers manually. It accelerates the result processing and makes storage & management of records easier. 

• Report & Analysis

Exam software helps evaluate the performance of individual students and assess their improvement areas.

• Integration with LMS

Learning Management System or LMS integration is a helpful feature for the examiners which facilitates reporting, tracking and documentation using intelligent algorithms. 

Advantages (Benefits) of Online Examination System Software

Conducting assessments, undertaking onscreen evaluations for fast results or generating transcripts, all is easy with online examination system software. Let us have a look at the other key benefits of using these applications:

• Time-Saving

The best part about using online exam software is the setting of exam papers that can also be auto-graded with ease. For subjective marking, the system will check and cross-check the answer on its own. Hence, saving the examiner’s time. The best online exam software in India fully automates the grading procedure.

• Question Paper Security

Earlier, the question paper used to get leaked, which would cause a lot of problems for educational institutes. Online examination software removes the hassle of question paper’s security. The best examination software does not need physical copies. Organizations can create a data bank, which can be accessed by authorized members only.

• Reduction in Logistics Cost

In an online examination, the logistics cost is reduced to an absolute minimum. The entire examination process is technology-driven.

• Remote Supervision

Online examinations can be managed by auto surveillance, where web cameras connected to the system would take snapshots of the student’s activity during the test. The online exam software comes at a reasonable price and it saves energy, time, and resources that go into conducting an examination.

• Flexibility in Managing Examinations

The online test- taking software gives flexibility in designing papers, evaluating, and grading. The online exam application allows institutes to set several question papers for the same subject to avoid cheating between students. This function eases the organizational workload.

Popular Trends Associated with the Software for Online Exam

• Online Exam in Schools & Universities: In past few months, entrance exams, semester exams and assessments were conducted online following the strict lockdown guidelines. Online exams have become as common as a work from home job.
• AI Integration: One of the major trends for online exams is the integration of Artificial Intelligence to make conducting exams easier. Facial and voice recognition for remote processing have increased the reliability in case of online examination system.
• Transparent Examination Process: Automation of authentication is another trend that ensures to check the presence of student anytime. Software for online examination helps in making test-taking processes cheating-proof.

Most Popular Online Exam Software for Conducting Online Tests

1. ProctorU: It’s a simple online exam software that offers monthly analytics reports and watch test-takers complete exams in real-time.
2. Mettl: One of the best software for virtual exams that is secure, scalable, customizable and feature rich.
3. Eklavvya: The online exam application is an award winning online examination platform that provides customised solutions for corporates, schools and education. 
4. Thinkexam: ThinkExam online exam mobile app provides smooth registration with easy creation of tests. It has highly interactive interface with an advanced reporting system.
5. Examity: Examity online test software is available for employers, colleges and certification providers. It allows creation of a secure environment for a quality educational experience.
6. Verificient: This online test software is an Identity-as-a-service that combines AI, machine learning, biometrics and computer visioning to provide solutions. 
7. AIProctor: The online exam mobile app is best suitable for high states exams. Its outstanding features include a live Proctor with AI.
8. ExamSoft: One of the commonly used online test software to guide students, prevent cheating and ease the accreditation process.
9. Proview: The online exam software in India is an AI-powered remote proctoring solution to conduct online exams. It comes with the facility of assessment from anywhere anytime. 
10. Conduct Exam: Another online exam software in India that caters to everyone's needs and makes examinations easy to manage and assess.

How to Get the Best Price for Online Exam Software in India

Several online exam software options are available at a reasonable price in India. While comparing the best online examination software examples, you should take care of these pricing factors:

• Is there any hidden price like maintenance charge, deployment cost, etc.
• Ask for customized features and check if there is an additional price for the same
• You can easily get the best online test software on discount across online software marketplaces
• Most importantly, check for customer reviews and don’t buy any software for online examination. 

Factors to Consider While Comparing Online Test Software or Exam Apps

There are many things you have to filter from an array of online examination software and online exam mobile apps. Check features like:

• Remote proctoring
• Admin panel
• Reporting & tracking
• Device compatibility
• Easy accessibility
• Seamless test creation
• Comprehensive report analysis
• Good customer support.