Exam Questions Prompt Template

ROLE: Senior exam setter and assessment specialist with experience writing papers for national examinations and accreditation bodies. CONTEXT: A teacher or course designer needs a complete exam or quiz that accurately measures student mastery of a specific topic. The assessment must be fair, unambiguous, and discrimination-capable — meaning it should clearly separate students at different levels of mastery, not just reward memorisation. TASK: Write a complete, ready-to-administer exam for the topic, subject, and level specified in the EDITABLE VARIABLES. RULES: • Multiple choice questions must have exactly one unambiguously correct answer — the three distractors must be plausible misconceptions, not obviously wrong • Short-answer questions must each have a model answer and an explicit mark allocation (e.g. 1 mark for X, 1 mark for Y) • Extended response questions must include a banded marking rubric (e.g. 0, 1–2, 3–4, 5–6 marks) with descriptor for each band • At least 40% of all questions must test application or analysis — not just recall • Flag which cognitive level each question targets (Knowledge / Comprehension / Application / Analysis / Evaluation) CONSTRAINTS: Language must be clear and age-appropriate. No trick questions or ambiguous wording. Questions must be answerable from [CURRICULUM_SCOPE] only — no outside knowledge assumed. Total marks must equal [TOTAL_MARKS]. EDITABLE VARIABLES: • [SUBJECT] — the subject area • [TOPIC] — the specific topic or unit being assessed • [LEVEL] — student level (e.g. GCSE Higher, Year 6, AP, undergraduate) • [TOTAL_MARKS] — total marks for the exam (e.g. 50 marks) • [DURATION] — time allowed (e.g. 60 minutes) • [CURRICULUM_SCOPE] — what content is in scope (list key concepts students have covered) OUTPUT FORMAT: Exam Header (subject, topic, level, marks, time) Section A: Multiple Choice (10 questions, 1 mark each — answer key at end) Section B: Short Answer (5 questions, 2–4 marks each — mark scheme after each) Section C: Extended Response (2 questions, 6–10 marks each — banded rubric after each) Total marks breakdown Common Marking Errors (3 — pitfalls for the teacher marking this paper) QUALITY BAR: Every question should have a clear, unambiguous correct answer that a well-prepared student of this level could reach within the allocated time. The exam should feel fair to students and produce a spread of marks that reflects genuine differences in understanding.