Managing Multiple Versions

This article covers how to create and manage multiple versions of an assessment — useful for test-integrity scenarios where students sitting near each other take the same assessment with the answers shuffled, the questions reordered, or a different answer key.

How Versions Work

Assessment versions are managed from the assessment’s Questions tab. A versions bar sits directly under the assessment navigation. Every assessment starts with a default Version 1, which cannot be deleted. Additional versions can be added or removed as needed.

What differs between versions depends on the path you choose when you add your first additional version. That choice locks for the whole assessment — to switch paths, you delete every version and start again.

NOTE: How a scan knows its version depends on the sheet. When each version prints on its own sheet (reordered questions with mixed question types), the version is encoded on the sheet and read automatically. When every version shares one sheet (shuffled answers only), the sheet carries a version bubble that has to be filled in — and on a test that spans more than one sheet, the version must be bubbled on every sheet, or the scan can’t tell which version it is. If a student ends up on the wrong version, you can switch their version after scanning.

Managed vs. Unmanaged Versions

When you add a version, you choose one of two paths:

Managed — PaperScorer keeps the question and answer text in sync across every version from the base, and you pick how each version is shuffled:

Randomize answer order — the answer choices are shuffled within each question, and the correct answer follows its text. The bubble layout stays the same, so the whole class prints on one shared answer sheet. This is the classic “same question, different bubble” case.
Randomize question order — the questions print in a different order for each version. Scoring is unaffected (PaperScorer maps each scanned response to the right question).

Unmanaged — each version is an independent answer key. You start a version with a blank key and fill it in per question, or copy the key from another version and edit it. Question and answer text is still shared; only the correct answers differ.

NOTE: If a version reorders the questions and your assessment mixes different question types, each version needs its own answer sheet. If versions only shuffle the answers, one shared sheet covers everyone. PaperScorer decides this for you at print time — see Why do I have to print multiple versions of an answer sheet?

Adding a New Version

On the Questions tab, click the Add version link in the versions bar. A modal opens where you choose your path:

Pick Managed or Unmanaged (this locks for the assessment once you have versions).
On the managed path, check Randomize answer order, Randomize question order, or both. On the unmanaged path, choose whether to start with a blank answer key or import answers from an existing version.
Click Save to create the version.

The new version appears in the versions bar. Click any version to toggle the Questions tab between them.

NOTE: Versions can’t be added to a published assessment, and editing question or answer text on a managed version is locked — edit the base version and every version updates with it. Only the answer key (unmanaged) or the shuffle (managed) is version-specific.

Removing a Version

On the Questions tab, click the version you want to delete in the versions bar, then click the Remove version link.

A confirmation modal will pop up. Confirm to complete the removal.

NOTE: The default Version 1 cannot be deleted. Only versions 2 and higher can be removed. When you delete a version, higher-numbered versions are renumbered down to fill the gap — for example, deleting Version 2 promotes Version 3 to Version 2.

Any students who had been graded on the deleted version are automatically reassigned to Version 1. You can re-assign them afterwards — see Switch a Student’s Assessment Version.

Printing Multiple Versions

When you print answer sheets for a class, you choose which versions to include, and PaperScorer randomly distributes your students across them — pre-filling each student’s name on the correct sheet. See Printing an Assessment for a Class for the print flow, and Why do I have to print multiple versions of an answer sheet? for when a single sheet covers every version.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why use multiple versions at all?

Test integrity: if students sit close together, giving them shuffled answers or reordered questions makes copying ineffective, because a neighbor’s sheet no longer lines up with theirs.

Can I change a question’s text in only one version?

No. Question and answer text is shared across all versions — edit it on the base version. What differs per version is the answer key (unmanaged) or the answer/question shuffle (managed). If you need genuinely different questions, create a separate assessment.

How do I know which version a student took?

It depends on the sheet. When each version has its own sheet, the version is encoded on the sheet and assigned automatically when you scan. When versions share one sheet (answer-order shuffle), the sheet has a version bubble that must be filled in — and on a sheet that runs to more than one page, on every page — so the scan can record which version it is. Either way, the assigned version shows in the assessment student list, and you can switch it if it’s wrong.

What if I print the wrong version for a student?

After scanning, use Switch a Student’s Assessment Version to move them to the correct version. The score is recalculated against the new version’s answers.