8.9 Exam Blueprints

Exam Blueprints in risr/assess are used as generic Exam type templates that can be used multiple times to create Item Sets and Exams that would meet the requirements and constraints of that Exam Blueprint. Utilising them allows you to create frameworks for Exams that may reoccur periodically, where the Exams follow the same structure but only require different questions (Items). For example, you may run an OSCE every Summer with the same number of Stations and for the same year group.

The information entered during the creation of an Exam Blueprint will provide the constraints for any automatically generated content for your Exam and by providing the Exam settings the system will also determine the configuration and placement of Exam participants (candidates, examiners, role players, etc.) into appropriate Sessions and Circuits. The system uses this information for two major tasks. The first is pre-selecting items when you create a new item set. Practique uses the number of stations as well as the Exam Blueprint constraints to find matching items from the item bank, so that the item set does not need to be created manually. The second use of Exam Blueprints is to create exams, where Practique uses this information to create the schedule and layout of the exam.

Exam defaults terminology