Online exam platform

The only online exam platform you need to author, deliver, proctor, mark and analyse online exams

Synap is secure online exam software for awarding bodies, universities, companies and training providers, with an audit trail to back every result.

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acme.synap.ac/builder/chemistry-paper-1/questions

Question

ID 4c81f2Cloze · drag and drop
Clone‹›
QuestionAnswerTagsPlacementConfigurationMedia controlsMarking

Stem

HBIU
Illustration of an atom, inserted into the question stem

In an atom, a Proton + is positively charged, the   is negatively charged and the   is neutral.

Mode

Strict Match Repeats Allowed Flexible Order

Possible responses

Proton Electron Neutron Shell Isotope Nucleus+ Add response
  • Blank 1Proton
  • Blank 2Electron
  • Blank 3Set answer…

Feedback

Protons carry the positive charge, electrons the negative, and the proton count fixes the element's atomic number.
Atomic structure4 creditsPreviewSave

10 million+

exams delivered worldwide

Trusted by awarding bodies, universities & professional bodies

What is an online exam platform?

An online exam platform is software that runs every stage of an exam digitally, from writing questions to proctoring, marking and results. It all happens in one system with a complete record, so every result can be defended.

  • Replaces paper exams

    No printing, couriers or hand marking. Objective questions mark instantly and written answers go straight to examiners.

  • Goes further than an LMS quiz

    Built for the exam itself, with secure delivery and invigilation. It connects to your LMS via LTI 1.3 rather than replacing it.

  • Joins up separate tools

    Questions, sittings, proctoring incidents and marks sit in one place, so there are no gaps in the audit trail.

Exam features

From the first question to the final result

One cohesive online exam management experience, so your team can run every stage of an exam without leaving the platform.

  1. Author once, reuse everywhere

    Build reusable question banks with 15+ question types, tagged by topic, skill and difficulty.

    Learn more

  2. Deliver at any scale

    Schedule sittings across regions and time zones, with access arrangements applied automatically.

    Learn more

  3. Proctor to the right level

    Lockdown, record-and-review or live invigilation, with every incident timestamped.

    Learn more

  4. Mark and moderate

    Objective items mark instantly; written work routes to examiners with rubrics and moderation.

    Learn more

  5. Analyse every question

    Pass rates, item discrimination and KR-20 reliability, per exam and per question.

    Learn more
Explore all exam features

Customer story

Iceland's Project Management Association moved its certification exams to Synap four days before a scheduled sitting.

4 days

from decision to live exam

Synap has provided us with the tools to modernise and improve our exams, ensuring a seamless and high-quality experience for our students and evaluators alike. We look forward to continuing this partnership and exploring new ways to optimise our certification process.

Agnes, Managing Director

VSF, Icelandic Project Management Association

Read the case study

Why Synap

Exams that hold up after the results go out

Everything an assessment programme has to answer for, from a challenged result to a procurement review.

Explore every exam feature

See how authoring, delivery, proctoring, marking and analytics work together, and find the features your exams need.

See the platform overviewBook a demo

Use cases

One online exam platform, built for every kind of assessment

Whether you're delivering multiple-choice mock exams, examiner-marked OSCEs or proctored final exams, Synap handles all of them on one assessment platform.

Not sure which one fits? Speak to our team about your use case

Is Synap the right fit?

Synap is built for exams where the result has to stand up afterwards. Here is when it is the right choice, and when something simpler would serve you better.

Synap is best for

  • Exams whose results get challenged by appeals, regulator audits or accreditation reviews, where every sitting needs a timestamped record.

  • Formats beyond multiple choice such as OSCEs, spreadsheet, coding and language exams, with examiner marking and moderation.

  • Large or simultaneous sittings with thousands of candidates starting at once across regions and time zones.

  • Exams that connect to other systems such as your LMS through LTI 1.3, and HR or CRM tools through the API and webhooks.

  • Strict data and compliance requirements including EU or US data residency, ISO 27001 certification and WCAG 2.1 AA for candidates.

Synap is not the best fit for

  • Teams that only need lightweight, informal quizzing with no proctoring or audit requirement. A simpler quiz tool will be cheaper and faster to set up.

  • Organisations that only want standalone proctoring because exam delivery and marking already run elsewhere.

TESTIMONIALS

See why our customers love Synap

Businesses and educational institutes around the world trust Synap for their assessments.

  • The features we like most about Synap are the spaced learning, mock exams, and the customer support we receive by the Synap team! When we want to make changes, they are always there to help us through the process.

    Jonathan D

    Driver Operations Executive | FreeNow

  • If I hear of the examination experiences that so many of the other universities had I am so lucky that I found this company. I am never going back to writing a paper-based exam and I will not use another examination provider.

    Henda S

    Program Director | University of the Free State

  • Working with Synap is more of a partnership than a transaction and it makes my job so much easier. I also love how customisable the platform is. I have been able to make significant personalisation via Synap.

    Colin M

    Client Engagement Manager | CSA

Frequently asked questions about our online exam platform

Find quick answers or browse our academy.

Still not sure?

Tell us what you need to assess and we will point you to the right answer.

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Or ask an AI about Synap

An online exam platform is software that lets organisations author, deliver, proctor, mark and analyse exams digitally, in one system rather than on paper or across separate tools. A complete platform covers question banks, scheduling and access arrangements, remote or in-venue invigilation, automatic and examiner marking, and item-level reporting. Synap is an online exam platform built for exams where the result has to stand up afterwards, such as certifications, admissions tests and professional qualifications.
Synap is an online exam platform and assessment software suite for delivering secure exams at scale. Based in Leeds, UK, it has delivered more than 10 million exams and is ISO 27001:2022 certified. What sets it apart is the depth at each stage: its own proctoring tool rather than a third-party add-on, examiner marking with moderation, and item-level analytics that show how every question performed. Awarding bodies, universities, professional bodies and employers use it for everything from practice tests to accredited qualifications. See the platform overview.
Computer-based exams (CBE or CBT) are exams sat on a computer or tablet instead of on paper, with delivery, timing, marking and results handled by software. Synap runs them end to end, remotely or in a supervised venue, on any modern device, including low-bandwidth and challenging environments. Timing, sections, randomisation and access arrangements apply automatically, objective questions mark instantly, and written work routes to examiners. You also get the audit trail and item statistics paper cannot give you.
Yes, and it is not a separate product. Build reusable question banks, tag items by topic, skill and difficulty, then assemble exams to a blueprint or randomise so every candidate gets a unique paper. Items carry media, option-level feedback and statistics such as p-value and discrimination, and bulk import via CSV or the API. Types include multiple choice (MCQ), extended matching (EMQ), single best answer, short answer, essay, image hotspot, spreadsheet and coding. See exam authoring and all question types.
Yes, and this is usually why organisations move to Synap. Alongside MCQ and written answers it runs OSCEs and examiner-marked clinical stations, spreadsheet and financial assessments with a real spreadsheet inside the exam, coding questions with syntax highlighting and code cloze, Single Best Answer and standardised testing with item statistics, and language assessments with audio and video responses, and assignments and coursework with rubric marking and moderation.
Online invigilation (proctoring in the US) is how you supervise a candidate sitting remotely. Synap has three levels: lockdown, restricting what the candidate can do on their device; record-and-review, capturing periodic webcam and screen images to check afterwards; and live invigilation, monitored in real time. All three run inside the exam, so incidents are timestamped against the question the candidate was on. See proctoring and invigilation, or how NASW-GC protects its certification.
Synoptic is Synap's own proctoring and invigilation tool, built for exams delivered on Synap rather than integrated from a vendor. It runs in any modern browser, as a Chrome extension, or as a Windows and macOS desktop app, and you set the install level (how the exam reaches the candidate) separately from the monitoring level (what is recorded). Because it is part of the same platform, one supplier is accountable for both the exam and its supervision. See how Synoptic works.
Synap is ISO 27001:2022 certified and UK GDPR compliant, with proctoring, anti-cheat and infrastructure controls built in, and a 99.9% uptime SLA that scales for high-concurrency sittings. The ISO certificate, penetration test summary, policies, DPA and completed supplier questionnaires are all available: most self-serve from the Trust Centre, with the Procurement Hub covering company information and information security.
Synap runs on AWS with regional options in the EU and US, so candidate data stays in the region your policy requires. Internal systems sit in private VPCs, isolated from the public internet, and you can export data at any time or request erasure on demand. Exams are delivered worldwide across the US, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, with multi-language support and per-region performance. See security and data protection.
Yes. The candidate area of the exam platform is conformant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA, with screen reader support, keyboard navigation, text resizing, and colour and contrast options. Per-candidate access arrangements such as extra time and dyslexia-friendly typefaces are configured per exam. See our accessibility page for VPAT information.
No. An LMS runs courses: content, enrolment and progress, usually with basic quizzes. Synap is an online exam platform built for the exam itself, with secure delivery, proctoring, examiner marking and an audit trail. It connects to Moodle, Canvas and Blackboard through certified LTI 1.3, so learners take the course in your LMS and sit the exam in Synap. Single sign-on works via Auth0, Microsoft ADFS or SAML, alongside webhooks, Zapier and a REST API. See integrations.
This is a migration we have run many times. We import your question banks, rebuild your exam settings and rules with you, and run a parallel pilot before anything goes live, with onboarding included rather than quoted separately. Timelines are usually weeks, not terms. Iceland's Project Management Association switched four days before a scheduled exam.
Two models: pay per Monthly Active User if candidates assess often, or per assessment if they sit one exam a year. Plans scale with usage and features such as proctoring level and support SLAs, billed monthly or annually, with no set-up fees. Tiers and the full comparison are on the pricing page. There is a 14-day free trial after a short demo, so the trial is set up around your own exams. Book a demo for a quote.

See your own exams on Synap

Start with a demo, see the platform in full, then take a 14-day free trial and add your own questions for testing.

Book a tailored demo

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