# “Aren't online quizzes easy to cheat on?”

> They don't have to be. A few toggles — shuffle, a timer, an attempt cap, hidden answers — make a quiz hard to game, and you can hand-grade written answers yourself.

Last updated 2026-06-13 · Source: https://prolaud.com/help/course-faq-quiz-cheating

The fear is fair: an unguarded online quiz is just an open-book guessing game. But you control four settings that, together, make casual cheating pointless — and for anything that really needs judgment, you grade it yourself.

*Four toggles that harden a quiz, plus teacher grading for written answers.*

## The anti-cheat toggles

- Shuffle — randomize the order of questions and options per attempt, so two students never see the same sheet.
- Time limit — cap how long an attempt can take, leaving no time to look everything up.
- Attempt cap — allow just one try (or a few), so a student can't brute-force the answers.
- Hide answers — keep correct answers hidden until results are final, so early takers can't pass them around.
- Lock navigation — strictly forward: no returning to (or copying from) answered questions.
- Flag tab switches — counts every time a student leaves the tab/window mid-attempt; you see a '⚠ Left the quiz N times' badge on their attempt.
- Reveal-after-final — withhold the answer key until the student has no attempts left, so it can't be harvested between retakes.

> **Note:** For entrance-exam practice tests, add negative marking and a strict availability window too — wrong answers cost points, and the quiz only opens during the test slot.

## Question types — and who grades them

- Multiple-choice and true/false — graded automatically the moment a student submits.
- Short answer — checked against the answer you set.
- Long answer (essay) — not auto-graded; it goes to you to read and score, just like grading a written paper.

You also choose the grading mode: 'auto' reveals the score instantly, or 'teacher' holds every submission in a review queue until you release results — handy when a quiz mixes auto and written questions.

## Example

A test-prep tutor sets a 10-question quiz to one attempt, a 12-minute timer, shuffled order, and answers hidden until results. For the two essay questions she keeps it in teacher mode and grades them herself over the weekend — fast checks stay automatic, judgment stays human.

> **Note:** Quizzes are about learning as much as policing. Add an explanation to each question — students see why an answer was right once results are out, and that's often where the real teaching happens.

## Related

- [Build quizzes that aren't gameable](https://prolaud.com/help/course-quizzes)
- [The 9 lesson types — and when to use each](https://prolaud.com/help/lesson-types)