On some days in exam season there are several hundred students taking six or more different exams, each of a different length. Some students are entitled to extra time, others are allowed rest breaks. And then a power cut makes the lights go out…

I wondered if technology could help here and have created a webpage to help with exam timing. However, before you click on the link, please read the following notes!

The exam timing page is designed to be “standalone” so it can run from a laptop without requiring internet or network access. The page is self-contained with all formatting in-line. It requires Javascript to be enabled and also uses cookies to store exam data and timings in the event that the laptop is turned off or the browser accidentally closed.

Setting Up

When the exam timer page is loaded you are prompted to enter the time shown on the examination clock. This is the preferred method, as the computer clock may not be set to the same time. If you make a mistake when entering the time, press F5 to reload the page.

Once the time has been entered you can enter details of your examinations. Type in a name (this can be anything to help you remember it), and the length of the exam. You can enter hours and minutes (e.g. 1 hour 30 minutes) or just the number of minutes (e.g. 90 minutes). Click on the button marked “Add Exam To List”, which will add the exam to the table. You can enter any number of exams into the table. If you make a mistake entering an exam you can choose “delete” from the first column of the table and press the button marked “Go” to delete the exam.

Timing Exams

When an exam starts, ensure that “start” is shown in the first column of the row for that exam and press the button marked “Go”. All end times will automatically be calculated and the “Time Left” column will show the time remaining for both the normal exam and for those with 25% time. (The 50% extra end time is for information only). You can also start all exams at once by pressing the “Start All Exams” button at the top of the screen.

The “Time Left” column is colour coded to show the state of the exam:

Grey

Examination not started yet

Green

Examination running normally

Blue

Examination paused (see below)

Yellow

Examination has less then 5 minutes left

Red

Examination has ended

Other Actions

It is sometimes necessary to pause an exam, for example if there is a power cut. To pause an exam, select “Pause” from the drop-down list in the first column and press the “Go” button. Exams that are paused are shown with a blue background in the “Time Left” column. When the exam restarts, select “resume” from the drop-down list and press the “Go” button. All of the end times are recalculated to take account of the missing time. It is also possible to pause all of the exams at once by pressing the “Pause All Exams” button at the top of the page.

Large banner printouts of the exam times can be produced. Select “Print” from the drop-down list and press the “Go” button. Ensure that your printer is set to “Landscape” printing. The first page contains the exam name and the start time, the second page has the normal end time, the third page the 25% extra end time.

Finally, exams can be deleted at any time by selecting “delete” and clicking the “Go” button.

Reminder

Please note the disclaimer on the exam timer page. This can only be a guide, the final decision will always rest with the examination senior invigilator!

Link to Page

The exam timer page can be found here. It does not follow the same formatting conventions as the rest of this site and so will open in a separate window.