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Sectioned exam layout

Pro feature

The Sectioned layout splits a quiz into ordered parts (sections) and shows the student one section at a time, in the style of an SAT, GRE, or mock certification exam. Questions are grouped into sections of ten, and the student completes each section as its own timed run before moving on.

Pro feature. Available in Learnomy Pro. The Sectioned display template is a Pro layout on the quiz editor.

What you can do

  • Present a long exam as a series of shorter, self-contained sections instead of one endless list.
  • Show a section intro card between parts so the student knows how many questions each section holds before they start it.
  • Run the exam in Linear order (finish each section before the next, no going back) for high-stakes proctored-style tests.
  • Run the exam in Free order (the candidate picks any section first and switches between them until they submit) for mock exams where students want to attempt their strong sections first.
  • Track two levels of progress at once: a per-section question counter and a segmented bar showing which sections are done, active, or locked.
  • Keep a single quiz timer across the whole exam, with the last minute highlighted and auto-submit when time runs out.
  • Give students a per-section score breakdown on the results screen, with the question review grouped section by section.

Sectioned exam first view

How to use it

  1. Open the quiz in Learnomy > Quizzes and edit it (or add a new one).
  2. In the quiz settings, find Display template and choose Sectioned. This template is a Pro layout, so Learnomy Pro must be active for it to be selectable.
  3. Set Section navigation to either Linear - complete each section in order or Free - candidate picks section order. Linear is the default.
  4. Add your questions as normal. Learnomy groups them into sections of ten in the order they appear on the quiz. The first ten questions become Section 1, the next ten become Section 2, and so on.
  5. Set a Time limit if you want the exam timed. The timer runs across the whole exam, not per section.
  6. Save and publish the quiz.

What the student sees at exam time:

  1. A start screen with the usual rules summary, plus one extra rule that reads "Multi-section exam - complete each section in order." The student clicks Start Quiz to create the attempt.
  2. Linear mode: a section intro card ("Section 1 of 3") showing how many questions are in that section. The student clicks Begin Section to start answering. Free mode: a "Choose a section" picker listing every section with its answered / total count. The student clicks a section card to enter it.
  3. Inside a section, questions appear one at a time. The top bar shows the section name, a "Q2 of 10" counter, a segmented section-progress bar, an overall "X of N answered" count, and the timer.
  4. The student moves through the section with Previous and Next. On the last question of the section, the Next button becomes End Section.
  5. Linear mode: ending a section asks for confirmation ("Are you sure you want to end this section? You cannot return to it."), locks that section, and moves to the next section intro. In Free mode, finishing a section returns the student to the picker so they can switch to another section; a Sections button also lets them jump back to the picker at any time.
  6. After the last section (Linear) or from the Submit exam button on the picker (Free), the attempt is submitted.
  7. The results screen shows the pass/fail score, the passing threshold, and a per-section question review.

Settings and options

These are set on the quiz editor (Learnomy > Quizzes > edit a quiz) and stored on the quiz.

Setting Field name Values Notes
Display template display_template sectioned Pro layout. Selecting it turns the quiz into a sectioned exam.
Section navigation section_navigation linear (default), free Applies to the Sectioned template only. linear locks each section after it ends; free lets the candidate choose the order and switch between sections until submit.
Time limit (quiz time limit) minutes One timer for the whole exam. When under 60 seconds remain the timer turns red; at zero the attempt auto-submits.
Passing score passing_score percentage Same passing rule as every other layout; scored across all sections.

Section size is fixed at ten questions per section. To change how many sections an exam has, change how many questions the quiz contains.

The Section navigation help text on the quiz editor reads: "Applies to the Sectioned display template. Free lets the candidate choose which section to attempt first and switch between them until submit."

For developers

  • REST: the quiz create and update endpoints (learnomy/v1/quizzes) accept display_template (enum includes sectioned) and section_navigation (enum linear | free). Both are returned on the quiz resource. Send section_navigation only for sectioned quizzes; other values are ignored.
  • Database: section_navigation is a column on lrn_quizzes (varchar(20), default linear), added in migration 3_14_0.
  • Template override: the layout renders from templates/quiz/sectioned.php. Copy it to theme/learnomy/quiz/sectioned.php in your theme to override it through the Template Loader.
  • Frontend store: the player extends the shared learnomy/quiz Interactivity store in assets/js/quiz-view-sectioned.js. It reads section_navigation from the start payload into state.sectionNavigation; in free mode the player opens on the section picker instead of the Section 1 intro. Section size is controlled by state.questionsPerSection (default 10).

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