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Multiple-Choice Test Generator

Writing a multiple-choice test is mostly writing the wrong answers, and that is where it goes wrong twice over. A distractor that turns out to be correct makes the question unanswerable. A correct answer that sits in the same place on most questions makes the test guessable without reading it. Both are checked here: every option is worked out against its own question, and the position of the right answer is counted across the sheet.

What this generator does

Builds questions at the level you choose, surrounds each answer with three plausible near-misses, places the right answer so no letter carries the sheet, and prints a key you can mark from on a sheet of its own.

How to use this tool

  1. Choose a topic and level.
  2. Set how many questions you want.
  3. Make the test, and show the key when you need it.
  4. Give a seed to produce the same test again, or a different one for a resit.
  5. Set the paper, then print: only the test comes out, not the page around it.

Understanding the controls

Topic
Any of the arithmetic or fraction topics — the same question sets the worksheets use, with options added.
Level
Six levels, each a stated range of numbers rather than a vague label.
How many questions
One to sixty. A question that cannot be given three distinct wrong options is skipped rather than padded.
Seed
A word reproduces exactly the same test, so a paper can be printed twice or shared with a colleague.
Paper
Paper size, print size, margin and whether the sheet turns sideways. The questions are then divided between sheets to match, with each question and its four options kept whole on one of them.

Common use cases

  • A quick assessment with a key that can be marked at a glance
  • A resit paper on the same topic with different questions
  • Practice at a specific operation or fraction skill
  • A test where the answer sheet is a single line of letters
  • Homework that can be marked by somebody who did not set it

How this generator works

The distractors are the mistakes people actually make — one out, ten out, doubled, halved, two digits swapped, or a fraction turned upside down. Each one is then put into the question and worked out: any option that comes out correct is discarded rather than printed. Afterwards the whole sheet is checked again for exactly one right option per question, four different options, a key that points where it says, and no letter carrying more than two fifths of the answers.

Randomness and fairness

Questions and distractors are drawn using the browser's secure generator. A seed reproduces the same test exactly — that path is deterministic, not cryptographic, and exists so the same paper can be printed twice.

For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.

Limitations and good to know

  • Maths topics only. Multiple choice on other subjects would need a question bank rather than a calculation.
  • Four options a question, always.
  • Long prompts are not shrunk to fit. A question is kept whole on one sheet, so a very long one at large print may leave the rest of that sheet emptier than you would like.
  • Distractors are near-misses in value; they are not designed around particular misconceptions.
  • The balance rule applies from eight questions upwards — on a very short sheet there is not enough room to spread four letters.
  • Nothing Multiple-Choice Test Generator produces is kept once the page closes — the seed is the only way back to the same output.

Privacy and your data

The test is built in your browser. No questions, answers or seed are transmitted or stored.

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