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Designing Your Exam for Uflo

A well-designed exam helps Uflo identify pages, match them to students, and isolate answers for grading. Missing page numbers, unlabeled answer boxes, or absent student ID fields will cause delays and require manual work after scanning. Follow the guidelines below carefully before creating your exam document.

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Page Numbers on Every Page

Every page must have a clearly visible page number. Exams are disassembled and scanned as individual pages, so Uflo relies on page numbers to reconstruct order and detect missing pages.
  • Place page numbers at the bottom center of each page, including the cover/title page.
  • Use at least 10pt font and ensure page numbers are not crowded by other content.
  • If your exam has an odd page count, add a blank page so the total is even. Otherwise, the blank back side of the last page will have no page number, causing scanning issues.
Common MistakePage numbers placed only in the document header may not print reliably. Always verify page numbers appear correctly on a printed test copy.

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Student Identification Fields

In order for Uflo to identify each student, the first page of the exam must include: 
  • Student full name
  • Student ID number
  • You may also include additional information such as date of exam, seat number, etc.
  • It is also recommended to include student identifiers on every page of the exam. 
Put Student Info on All PagesIf the cover page is shuffled into another student’s exam during disassembly or scanning, pages without identification cannot be matched to a student automatically.

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Formatting Questions

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Each free response question should follow these rules:

  • Specify point values in the question stem including each subquestion.
  • Extend questions to the full page width. Avoid placing questions side by side.
  • Add a bordered answer box (bordered text box in Word) after each question, as large as possible, without overlapping questions, exceeding margins, or covering page numbers.
  • Avoid answer boxes that span multiple pages, as Uflo does not support them.
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Each multiple choice question should follow these rules:

  • Label each answer choice alphabetically as A, B, C, D, E… 
  • Include a bubble next to each choice for students to fill in solidly, like a scantron. 
  • Circling, crossing, or other selection methods are not supported.
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Additional Exam Design Tips

Beyond the rules above, these practices will improve scan quality and grading accuracy:
  • Use high-contrast black text on light backgrounds. Avoid watermarks in answer boxes.
  • Use a standard, readable font (Arial, Times New Roman, or Calibri at 11–12pt).
  • Keep content at least 0.5 inches from page edges, as scanners may clip margins.
  • Include a brief instruction reminding students to write their name and ID.
  • If your exam has multiple versions, include the version label on the cover or every page.
  • Every page must contain text since scanners may skip blank pages and cause uneven page counts (common with scratch paper or odd-paged exams printed double-sided).

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Saving Your Exam Files

Prepare and save the following files before printing:
  • Blank template (PDF only): Contains only question prompts, answer boxes, and student ID fields without solutions or rubric. Used to generate QR coded printouts (Section 2).
  • Complete template (Word or PDF): Includes all questions, solutions, and rubric. Used to import questions and configure AI grading (Section 3).
  • Name files clearly to avoid confusion (e.g. Exam2_Complete.docx vs Exam2_Blank.pdf). 
  • Keep original editable files in case revisions are needed.