7 Best Open Source Exam Software and Assessment Platforms
With the internet taking over the world and the ever-expanding globalization, exams and assessments have gone online replacing the old pen and paper format. The online open source exam software is highly secure and less prone to partial evaluation which might arise during manual correction.
It makes the examiner’s job easier as evaluation and result generation are all automated. It also saves the user from traveling long distances to give an exam. There are platforms which let the students take the exam from the comforts of their home.
It enables simultaneous conduction of exams throughout the country and also the world. The online examination software provides a comprehensive platform for the students to evaluate themselves by generating results and reports.
Listed below are some of the top performing open source exam software:

1. Kaldin
Kaldin is an online examination software portal based out of Pune, Maharashtra. It is an examination software that provides services for schools, colleges, and corporates.
The schools and college programs provided by this portal are highly reliable, customizable and easy to use. It has two kinds of users — admin and normal users. The admin who is usually teachers and lecturers can add questions, add multiple users via their email id and can provide or deny access to the tests.
Users can get instant test results and have the flexibility to set their start and finish date according to their comfort. A varied number of question types can be added like multiple choice, essay, short answers and more. It also offers pre-employment training and assessment for its corporate clients.
Features:
- Instant generation of test results.
- Tests and data are highly protected and safe.
- Data can be backed up every 30 minutes.
- Easy navigation to specific questions.

2. TCExam
TCExam is a web-based online examination system which is platform independent. It has high accessibility to provide equal opportunities to people with disabilities too. TCExam is divided into a number of modules and topics.
The software has a huge number of modules. Each module has a plethora of topics and each topic has an unlimited number of questions. For each module or topic, the software randomly extracts a certain number of questions depending on its difficulty and type of questions. Thus, this examination software generates unique question paper for every user, eliminating the risk of cheating by users. The software also has provisions to generate printable OMR sheets.
A filled OMR sheet can then be scanned and uploaded to TCExam for automatic scoring and reporting.
Features:
- Platform independent.
- No expensive hardware requirements.
- Internationalization — Enables translation in many languages and also supports the right to left languages like Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian.
- High accessibility — provides for people with disabilities

3. Virtualx
Virtualx is an open source exam software that offers complete test and examination solutions to institutions. It supports different types of questions like multiple choice, true or false, yes or no, drag and drop, matching, hierarchical and descriptive.
It is used in schools and colleges, companies, e-learning institutes and training institutes. Its distinguished list of clients includes Beijing Institute of technology and Association of scientists, development and Faculties (ASDF) among others.
Features:
- Role-based access and user security.
- Supports formulas and equations.
- Supports 14 different types of questions.
- Generates graphically analyzed reports and results.
- Enables manual evaluation for descriptive questions.

4. Skillsbook
It is an online examination system that specializes in employment training. It offers a varied number of solutions like recording skills, training, workplace education and course assessments. Its Recognition of prior learning (RPL) solution is used by colleges and educational institutes to build unique courses and assessments.
It is used for skill identification, development and assessment. It is used to train students and develop their skill set for employment. It helps training institute to design and build the course and validate the courses against national packaging rules.
Features:
- Delivers online training and RPL solutions.
- Designs intuitive and easy to use courses and assessments.
- To identify and develop professional skills.
- Customize training plans and manages training calendars.
- Stores qualifications and certificates.

5. Papershala
It is an online exam system which helps colleges and coaching institutes to conduct assessments and exams. Papershala can be used on different platforms like desktop, tablet and mobile and is supported by Windows, Android and iOS.
It enables student self-registration which saves the examiner from the hassles of having to create an account for every student personally.
Features:
- An easy and simple user interface.
- Schedule exam paper as per ones’ convenience.
- Pause and resume the exam.
- Reusable questions.
- One click activation and deactivation.
- Instant result generation.

6. Easy LMS
Easy LMS is a user-friendly, easy to distribute learning management system. It provides exam solutions, quiz solutions and assessment solutions for educational and training institutes. It’s a cloud-based as well as web-based software and both free and paid version of the software are available.
LMS is used in Real estate industry, hospitality, healthcare, retail and legal industries to keep the employees pertaining to that industry adept with the latest technology and skills. It has a number of distinguished clients such as Sogeti, Dell, Heineken, Allianz and Schipol.
Features:
- Builds courses, tests and quizzes.
- Online employee training.
- Online customer training.
- Skill testing and evaluations.
- Certification training and management.
- Multi-user platforms.
- Individual assessment.

7. Edbase
Edbase is an online exam software that can be used in schools, colleges or by corporate companies. With a user-friendly interface, it saves an evaluator’s assessment time by 55%. It’s an easy and flexible software that does not require any downloads or plug-ins.
Features:
- Works online and offline — The software works seamlessly even when the internet is down and all the data is sent to the Edbase server when the connection is up again.
- Analytics — Each student’s performance throughout the year is recorded and stored for students to analyze and improve.
- Lockdown screen — The screen locks down when the examination starts thus preventing the students from visiting any other website or pages. This provides a secure and cheating free environment for the exams.
- Timer — The examiner can set timings for an exam so that the students won’t be able to look for answers offline.
- The software generates the same questions but in a different order to check copying and malpractices.
With the humongous advantages offered by the online exam system, it is inevitable for it to not make its way into a number of colleges and eminent institutions and make the pen and paper system go obsolete.
It is bound to make the life of the examiner easier and also exams can be conducted securely as there is little scope for malpractice and cheating. Soon, the online exam system is to change the face of education and evaluation.
Originally published at www.softwaresuggest.com on September 4, 2018.
