Preparing Examination Papers

LaTeX

As you will be aware, all examination papers in Physics are now to be prepared using LaTeX. If you are familiar with LaTeX already, then all you need are:

• The preamble file
• A document template and sample figure

which can be built using pdflatex.

If you are not familiar with LaTeX, then please click here for an introduction.

When you submit an examination question, please submit both a PDF and the source documents (i.e. the LaTeX file plus any figures).

The sample document is fairly well commented, so what follows is only a brief summary.

The Front Page

The front page should be self-explanatory. Please ensure you amend:

• The module code
• The module name
• The year of the examination
• The student cohort
• The number of questions to be attempted
• The materials supplied

Notices

The \Notice command can be used to typeset notices to the students, for example to point out that threshold material will be marked with an asterisk.

The Questions

Each new question starts with a \Question command, and ends with \EndOfQuestion. This command automatically inserts the appropriate question number. The individual parts of the question are similarly specified with \SubQuestion, and sub-parts of these with \SubSubQuestion. You do not need to end the sub-parts with \EndOf... commands, just the main question itself.

Marks are specified using the \ThresholdMarks or \Marks commands as appropriate -- the only difference is that \ThresholdMarks will put an asterisk after the mark.

In general you will probably want a new question to start on a new page, so just use the \newpage command. If you do not, the spacing between questions can be a little small, so consider adding a \vspace{5mm} before the start of the next \Question.

Each \Question, \SubQuestion etc. command adjusts the paragraph indentation. If you want a paragraph with the same indentation as a particular \SubQuestion etc. part then you can use the \SubQuestionNote etc. command.

The End of the Paper

Please finish the paper with an \EndOfPaper command. This typesets the "End of Paper" notice to the students.