Creating a timed quiz

FlexiQuiz quiz maker allows you to add time limits to your quizzes, pages or questions.

If respondents do not submit a response within the maximum time allowed, the page or quiz automatically submits. Time limits enable you to fairly measure learner's abilities, prevent cheating and can create some fun competition.

How to add a timer to your online quiz

1. To start, create a quiz, test, or examination.
2. Then go to the Configure/ General screen and scroll down to Time limit.
3. To add a time limit to your whole quiz, tick the box Time limit. In the next box, enter the total amount of time respondents are allowed in hours and minutes.

Top tip! The countdown timer starts when the respondent opens the first question. You can add a welcome page to share essential information before respondents start the quiz and the timer begins counting down.
4. To add a time limit to a page, tick the box Page time limits and press the button Set time limits. A pop-up appears that lists all the pages on your quiz. You need to enter the time allowed for each page in hours, minutes and seconds.

5. To add a time limit to a question, you must ensure the question is on it's own page and use the page time limits option. You cannot use the questions per page feature.
Important! The time limit links to the page and not the question on it's own page. The randomize questions feature is unavailable if you want a crucial question to have a specific time limit.
6. You can check how the time limits work by pressing the Preview button on the top right.

How to customize the style of the quiz timer

If you have an Essentials plan or above, you can customize the quiz timer's font, color, size and text.

1. From the Configure screen, select Theme from the left-hand menu.
2. Scroll down to font settings and go to the Timer section. From here, you can choose the font, size and color of the timer. You can also choose to put the timer at the top or bottom of the page.

3. To change the "Time remaining" message, select the Messages tab and scroll down to quiz page messages. You can delete the Time remaining text and add your own in any language.
4. To change the pop-ups respondents see when their time expires, scroll down to Progress messages. You can change the text for the pop-up that shows when the time ends for the whole quiz or page.

How to fix the position of the quiz timer

You can fix the position of the countdown timer to the bottom of the page so that it's always visible to test-takers when they scroll up and down.

1. Go to the Configure screen and select Theme from the left hand-menu. Then scroll down to the Timer section and select Bottom from the drop-down menu.
2. Next, select General from the left-hand menu.
3. Scroll down the page to Navigation bar position and from the drop-down menu, select Fixed.

Frequently asked questions

What happens to the count down timer if the quiz unexpectedly closes?

The timer continues to count down if the quiz closes. This is to prevent students from closing the quiz and researching the answer.

If respondents access the quiz again and have time remaining, they can use the time left to answer the question.

If respondents access the quiz again and so not have any time left, the timer will show 0 minutes remaining and the test will automatically submit.

How does the countdown timer work with the save and continue feature?

If you have selected the save and continue feature, respondents must press the save progress button, to stop the count down timer. The timer will continue counting down when respondents restart the test.

If students exit the quiz without pressing the save progress button, the timer continues to count down.

Relevant help guides

How to track participant's quiz or question duration

How to add a welcome page

Blog: Prevent cheating with the Safe Exam Browser