An exam-day seating and paper-distribution checklist

2026-10-06

Multiple exam versions only help if they are handed out properly. If two students sitting side by side get the same version, it is the same as giving everyone one paper.

Handing out papers is also the most rushed part of the process. You do it in a minute or two, in front of the class, while answering questions. This guide gives you a simple method to follow. You can print it and take it into the room.

The goal

No student should be able to see a paper that matches their own.

The seats that matter are the ones around each student: left, right, in front and behind, plus the four diagonals. The four direct neighbours matter most, because they are the easiest to see.

How many versions you need

Two versions in a checkerboard pattern means the students to the left, right, front and back all have a different version. The diagonal seats will have the same version. With two versions on a grid, that is unavoidable.

Four versions can cover the diagonals too. Alternate Set 1 and Set 2 along one row, and Set 3 and Set 4 along the next. Then no neighbouring seat, including the diagonals, shares a version.

Two is a good default. One study found that the number of versions made little difference (details here). Use four if students sit close enough that diagonal glances are easy. Remember that each extra version is another paper to proofread and another key to manage.

Before the exam

One stack per version, with a band around it and the set number and count written on the top sheet.
Two or three spare copies of each version.
Answer keys left out of the room.
A class list with a column for the version each student gets.
Your seating pattern decided, including seats for latecomers.
“Write your set number on your answer sheet” written on the board.

Hand out from separate stacks

Don’t mix the versions into one pile (1, 2, 1, 2) and hand them out in order. As soon as you skip an empty seat, every paper after it is in the wrong pattern.

Instead, carry one stack per version and pick the right one for each seat. The version depends on the seat, not on how many papers you have handed out, so empty seats don’t cause problems.

While handing out:

Give each paper directly to each student. Don’t pass a pile along the row. The pattern gets lost and papers travel face up.
Papers stay face down until you say start. This also gives you a chance to spot a wrong paper before anyone reads it.

The pattern for rows of desks

Number rows from the front and seats from one side.

With two versions:

Alternate versions along each row: 1, 2, 1, 2.
Start each row with the opposite version from the row in front. If row 1 starts with Set 1, row 2 starts with Set 2.

Step 2 is the one people forget. If every row starts with Set 1, each student has the same paper as the person directly in front of them.

Front of room
Row 1:  1  2  1  2  1  2
Row 2:  2  1  2  1  2  1
Row 3:  1  2  1  2  1  2

Paired desks or benches: treat each pair as two seats. Partners get different versions, and the pair behind is offset.

Rooms that aren’t a grid (U-shapes, lab benches): mark the version for each seat on a seating plan before the exam. Check that no two neighbouring seats match. Then hand out by reading the plan.

Latecomers

Decide in advance which seats latecomers will use, usually those nearest the door, and which version each seat gets. Keep the spare papers with you. When someone arrives, give them the version for that seat and note it on your class list.

If a latecomer has to sit somewhere unplanned, look at the papers around them and give them a different version.

Empty seats, replacements and spares

Empty seat: skip it. Nothing else changes, because the version belongs to the seat.
Replacement paper: always give the same version as the damaged one. A student who has answered 15 questions on Set 1 and is given Set 2 will have their answers marked wrong. Check the set number on the old paper before you fetch a new one.
Spares: take them all with you when you leave.

Collecting the papers

Sort papers by version as you collect them. Sorting a mixed pile at the end, when you are tired, is how papers end up marked with the wrong key.

Students stay seated until every paper is collected.
Collect in the same order you handed out.
Put each version in its own pile.
Count each pile and compare it with how many you handed out, before anyone leaves.
Band each pile and write the count on the top sheet.

The whole checklist

Before:

Stacks banded, labelled and counted, with spares
Keys out of the room
Seating pattern and latecomer seats decided
Set-number instruction on the board

During:

Hand out by seat, face down, alternating along and between rows
Skip empty seats
Record each student’s version
Replace papers with the same version only

After:

Collect one pile per version
Count each pile before anyone leaves
Band and label each pile
Take the spares with you

This takes about five extra minutes. It doesn’t matter whether you made the versions by hand or with ExamShuffle. What matters is which paper ends up on which desk.