Parallel Test Paper Generator
Sitting a class at close desks means writing the paper twice: the same topics at the same level so the marks compare, and different numbers throughout so the answer next door is no use. The part people skip is reading both papers afterwards to make sure nothing slipped through in common — and that is the only part that matters. This makes up to six versions at once, keeps them the same test question for question, and confirms that no question appears on two of them before you print.
What this generator does
Produces several versions of one test at the same level and in the same order, where no printed question appears on more than one version, together with a marking copy of each.
How to use this tool
- Choose the subject, what to test, and the level.
- Say how many versions you need and how many questions each should carry.
- Pick the paper size and print size you are printing on.
- Make the papers, then print. The copies to mark from follow the blank ones.
- Give a seed if you want the same set again — for a resit, or for a colleague.
Understanding the controls
- Subject
- Arithmetic, fractions, algebra, percentages, number skills, spelling, geometry, measures and time, averages and probability, or ratio and proportion.
- What to test
- The particular skill within that subject — long division, expanding brackets, reverse percentages, and so on.
- School year
- One choice per year, under all three of its names. It sets the starting level to the range that age usually works with.
- Level
- Six levels, each a stated range of numbers or words rather than a vague label.
- How many versions
- One to six. They come out labelled A, B, C and so on for the corner of the paper.
- Questions per version
- One to a hundred. Every version carries the same number.
- Paper size and print size
- A4, A5, A3, US Letter or Legal, portrait or landscape, with the margin in millimetres and a compact, standard or large-print setting.
- Seed
- A word reproduces the same set of papers exactly, so a resit can be set from the same record.
Common use cases
- Two versions for a class sitting at close desks
- A resit paper at the same level as the original
- Version A and version B for two halves of a year group
- A practice paper and a real one that are genuinely comparable
- Marking copies printed alongside the blanks, numbered to match
How this generator works
Version A is the paper the settings ask for. Every version after it is assembled a question at a time rather than drawn whole: for each number on the paper, a question of the same shape as version A's is taken from a pile of candidates, and only if nothing already printed on another version matches it. Drawing whole papers and hoping they shared nothing was tried and does not work — twenty questions drawn twice from a few hundred possibilities nearly always share one. When a level does not hold enough different questions to keep the versions apart, the set comes back short and says so rather than handing over two papers with an answer in common.
Randomness and fairness
Questions are drawn using the browser's secure generator. A seed reproduces the same set of papers exactly — that path is deterministic, not cryptographic, and exists so the same test can be set twice.
For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.
Limitations and good to know
- Versions are parallel by the shape of each question, not by a measured difficulty score. Two multiplications with different numbers are treated as equal work.
- Low levels hold few different questions. Six versions of forty questions on numbers to ten do not exist, and the set will come back short rather than repeat one.
- Every version covers the same single skill. Mixing several topics on one paper is not offered here.
- Nothing is kept. Note the seed for a set you will need again.
- The marking copy shows the answer in place, with a line of working where the subject has one; it is not a mark scheme with method marks.
Privacy and your data
The papers are built in your browser. No question, answer or seed is transmitted or stored.
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