Setting up exams at a testing center

On the Exam Settings page (via the Settings tab on an exam in your testing center), you can configure how this exam is offered at that center. Below is a list of available settings and their purpose:

Name

The human-readable name of the exam as displayed to staff and students.

Labels

Assign one or more labels (e.g., "Midterm", "Final", "Accommodated") to categorize or filter exams and sessions.

For more details on creating and managing labels, see the Labels guide.

Visible to course staff

A toggle to control whether course staff (but not students) can see this exam and its sessions in PrairieTest.

Visible to students

A toggle to control whether students can view this exam and their reservations in PrairieTest.

Duration

The time limit students have to complete the exam, in minutes. This does not affect session length.

Start date / End date

The window during which students are permitted to begin the exam. Outside these dates, students cannot start new attempts.

Allow self-reserve

A checkbox determining whether students may make their own reservations for sessions. If disabled, only pre-assigned reservations are allowed.

Self-reserve start

If self-reservation is allowed, this date/time sets when students can begin making reservations for this exam.

Seat allowance

Must be a number between 0 and 100. Controls how much of any given session's capacity is available for this exam. For example, if set to 50%, reservations will only be able to use up to half the seats in each session.

Expected usage

An estimate (0–100%) of how many students will actually show up. Used internally for capacity planning and predictions.

Available sessions

A read-only list of sessions at this center into which students may self-reserve or be assigned.

Allow overrides / Maximum overrides

Settings to enable proctors to create manual override reservations, and a limit on the number per student.

Use default override dates / Default start & end dates

Options to control whether override reservations default to the session’s start/end times or use custom dates.

Pre-access text / Post-access text

Custom instructions shown to students before they start the exam and after they complete it.

Custom start URL

An optional link (e.g., to an external platform) used to launch the exam instead of the default PrairieTest link.

PrairieLearn access / assessments

If integrated with PrairieLearn, this section shows the access rule UUID and linked assessments for the PrairieLearn content.